BigBallinStalin wrote:I still don't get this Voter ID issue.
Can someone please explain this to me???
Is PS clamoring for something which he doesn't understand?
I can speak of PA, because its a big issue here.
In the past, to vote, you had to show some kind of something... a driver license, free (local) voter ID card, even utility bills would generally suffice -- the list of people eligible to vote was printed out already, so this was just something that showed you were who you said you were. In practice, here, I was only asked for any kind of ID the very first time, when I had first moved here. After that, the election volunteers all knew me from church, etc. IN addition, it is always a requirement that you sign your name.. in every state where I have voted, that is a requirement, be it an electronic version or a paper copy. That is the primary verification, then... to see that the signature matches.
Right now, in order to vote, you have to have a government issued, current ID with a picture and an expiration date. For most people, a driver's license suffices. A segment of other people have non-driving commonwealth IDs, but a lot of people in big cities, particularly poorer people and elderly people, along with a good chunk of elderly people in "rural" areas (some poor people there, though even many of those tend to have IDs, since driving is so necessary).
The claim is that this is needed because there is a big problem or potential problem with voter fraud, but when the data is actually studied, it turns out that the percentage of fraud is very low. Proponents, like jay, etc., claim that those statistics are just wrong because without IDs, it is almost impossible (they say) to track any fraud. They generally (jay seems to be an exception) agree that some people will be hurt, but consider that a reasonable cost to have the system "secured".
Jay's claim of thousands of illegal aliens wanting to vote is, well, plain ridiculous and utterly groundless. I am sure you can find an isolated case, but its an abberation, not a real issue.
For jay's idea to work, for illegal aliens to vote, they would have to both have knowledge of someone eligible to vote, but who was not, AND be able to duplicate their signature. Further, Its just not even logical that a sane person would put their being here at risk for the very tenuous benefit of a vote.
The problems pointed out by opponents are multiple:
First, because those without IDs tend to be Democrats, AND because the places where this is being pushed are particularly those where the prior votes have been relatively close, it looks a lot like discrimination.. and attempt to make voting harder, penalizing the Democratic party far more than Republicans.
Second, while the IDs themselves are generally free (they are in PA), getting the documents you need to attain the ID, as well as paying for transportation to get to the locations where you can sign up does cost money. In some areas, we are not talking about a few dollars for a bus pass, either. In my area, just as an example, there is a driver office open one day a week.. Weds. If you work or just cannot make that day, then you have to travel 30 miles. One way bus fare is between $5 and $10, depending on your exact location.
Third point is that even if cost is not prohibitive, the sheer difficult can be a major impedement. A proposal was put forward to allow people to get IDs at their local state representative's offices, closer for most people and open far more (at least in rural areas) than the driver offices. However, these offices do not have the security needed. (I find that last a bit confusing, since when I have to get child abuse and criminal clearances, that is exactly where I go.. and the information I have to give for those is more complete than that required for a voter ID, BUT that was the official ruling by the state.. not my opinion).
Fourth, as you pointed out, there is additional cost in this. That has gotten the least press here in PA, so it might not be such a big impact.
There are some other, lessor issues, but those are the biggies.
