Voting Rights

                    The discussion for this Freedom Friday concerns the threat to voters' rights.  Every eligible and registered American has the right to one vote per election and the guarantee that no ineligible voters will be given ballots or no individuals will receive multiple ballots.  We also have the right to a guarantee that the names of dead voters are removed from the registration before any election.  Every American has the right to have their representatives and leaders elected honestly.

                    In an effort to insure the integrity of the voting process in their states, 34 states introduced legislation in 2011 to require voter identification, and eight states passed photo ID laws since the 2011 legislative session started.  Those eight states are Alabama, Kansas, Mississippi, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin.  Six of these laws were enacted by Republican legislatures and signed by Republican governors.   The Wisconsin law was temporarily suspended last week by a county judge.  The requirement for voter ID in Mississippi came from a voter referendum that was put on the ballot by a Democratic House and a Republican Senate.  In Rhode Island, a Democrat-controlled legislature passed the proposal and an independent governor signed the law that will be effective 2014.

                    More states are moving towards requiring photo IDs in order to vote.  Republican Governor Bob McDonnell is expected to sign into law a measure that was passed by a Republican-controlled General Assembly and Senate.  The Republican-controlled House in Pennsylvania has debated a voter ID measure, which is expected to be signed by Republican Governor Tom Corbett if it reaches his desk.  New Hampshire is working on a law since the fraud-friendly policies were exposed.  Alaska apparently already has a requirement for voters to present photo IDs.  When I went to vote in our Presidential Preference Poll last week, I presented my voter registration card and was still required to show my photo ID in order to receive a ballot.

                    On Monday, March 12, 2012, Attorney General Eric Holder rejected the photo ID law for voters in Texas because it could keep "hundreds of thousands" out of the voting booth.  This is the second state law rejected by the DOJ as South Carolina's law was also challenged due to the fact that Blacks may be disenfranchised.  The final verdicts for these two states will be determined by a federal judge.  Alabama and Mississippi are both covered by the same Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act that required South Carolina and Texas to obtain approval from the DOJ or a federal court before implementing their voter ID laws.  The DOJ is also looking at the voter ID laws in other states.  Democrats are hailing the DOJ actions as a victory for protecting minority voting rights while conservatives are calling it an effort to continue voting fraud. 

                    Katie O'Connor, an attorney working on voting rights for the American Civil Liberties Union, said that the Texas voter ID law "would prevent countless Latinos, African-Americans, elderly citizens, and others from casting their ballot.  We're pleased the Department of Justice has recognized the harms this discriminatory law would have on people's fundamental right to vote."

                    House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas:  "Voter fraud undermines the electoral process and can sway the ultimate outcome of elections.  This is an abuse of executive authority and an affront to the citizens of Texas.  It's time for the Obama administration to learn not to mess with Texas."  

                    Texas Governor Rick Perry:  "Texas has a responsibility to ensure elections are fair, beyond reproach and accurately reflect the will of voters.  The DOJ has no valid reason for rejecting this important law, which requires nothing more extensive than the type of photo identification necessary to receive a library card or board an airplane.  Their denial is yet another example of the Obama Administration's continuing and pervasive federal overreach."  

                    As part of his Project Veritas, James O'Keefe went to various polling places around the state of Vermont to vote in the name of a dead person.  He gave a different name each time, and each time he received a ballot without being required to show any identification.  You can watch O'Keefe's efforts to document the state's "voter fraud-friendly policies" here.  O'Keefe was repeatedly told that he did not need any identification to obtain a ballot in Vermont.  His video shows that this is not a partisan issue because he was offered either Democrat or Republican ballots.

                This video is a sequel to O'Keefe's "Primary of the Living Dead" in New Hampshire, which exposed voter fraud in New Hampshire.  Even though O'Keefe was attacked by media sources for his exposure, the New Hampshire State Senate quickly passed a new bill that required voter ID.  More information on O'Keefe's video can be found here. 

O'Keefe told  Breitbart.com:  "It is a national disgrace that ballots can be given out in the names of dead people.  Threats of government intimidation will not stop us from protecting the integrity of the ballot box.  If any state has a system which encourages ballots to be given out to the wrong person, dead or alive, we will come to your state, we will film your poll workers, and Project Veritas will put the videos on YouTube.  States like Vermont and New Hampshire have to take dead people off voter registration forms and clean up their act, once and for all."

                    I do not understand why or how any adult can live in our modern society without some kind of picture identification.  I have been required to show ID when entering federal buildings, going through airport security, opening bank accounts, renting a hotel room, receiving medical care, registering for MediCare, being hired on a new job, getting a marriage license, cashing a check or using a credit card, and voting.  I am not affected because I don't smoke or drink alcohol, but anyone buying tobacco or alcohol is also required to show picture ID.  If being required to show picture ID in order to obtain a ballot is racist and discriminatory then it is also racist and discriminatory in all these other instances also!  Because picture IDs are required in so many different instances - in addition to voting - I would assume that nearly all adults already have photo IDs.  The excuses of problems encountered to obtain a photo ID are just a bunch of baloney!

                    I am of the opinion that all states should have photo ID requirements for voting and should enact them as soon as possible.  I believe that anyone standing in the way of such requirements is probably abetting voter fraud in an effort to affect election results.

                    A great article on the DOJ decision to sue Texas can be found here.