I know that's not the first instinct when you draw an initial conclusion that seems to make sense. But when you find out that in-person voter fraud is almost non-existent, and yet in state after state, Voter ID laws (with a whole list of attendant voting restrictions) keep getting enacted as though there is some sort of problem. As Colin Powell said, voter fraud can't be both widespread AND undetected. It just doesn't make sense.
So, it stands to reason that if tough legislation around a treasured, fundamental right is sweeping from state to state, you have to ask why. And if the laws seem to continually affect the same groups of people, it's not too hard to put together a theory. These laws are being enacted to have an effect on final vote tallies. It's not a nutty, out-of-left-field conclusion. Especially when you get to this Texas law, that cracks down on women. The Texas driver's license for married women has their maiden name as their middle name, but if it doesn't match their actual middle name on other documents, they can't vote? And they have to produce their original marriage license to set it right? Hmmmm.
Now, what's going on in Texas right now? Could there be a popular lady running for Governor that the GOP establishment might want to kneecap? Wouldn't making it hard for women to vote cut into her base quite a bit? See, not crazy.
[Excerpt]
Texas Judge Almost Blocked From Voting Because Of New Voter ID Law
A Texas district judge who has been voting for the past five decades was almost barred from the polls Tuesday, thanks to the state’s newly implemented, stricter voter ID law. The law kicked in on Tuesday as early voting in Texas’ November 5 election began. . .
Read more at: Think Progress
But she did vote, so what's the point. And maybe and more probably, kept a bunch of people who were not legally allowed to vote, it kept them from voting, which is very important.
ReplyDeleteShe did vote, because she's a judge, she's voted for decades, and she wasn't taking "no" for an answer. AND she's making a big deal about it. But you think this makes sense? Require matching names on IDs, but ALSO require women to have DIFFERENT names on the driver's license, and then say "you can't vote" because the NAMES don't match? It's bonkers! And they've admitted there is no known voter fraud problem in Texas!
ReplyDeleteAs a cashier at Wal-Mart, that would prevent her from buying booze and cigarettes, if we carded her. What's more important?
ReplyDeleteI get it, Dan, I do. It sounds reasonable. But do you get--at least--that these laws are NOT being enacted with that reasoning in mind? They're not being enacted to weed out voter fraud (which is a microscopic problem), but are being enacted to weed out VOTERS? It's clear. It's obvious. It's even been unmasked in several jurisdictions. Look up Paul Wyrich, and his theories on voting, and you'll see the root of all of this.
ReplyDeleteSorry, spelled it wrong, Paul Weyrich. Here's the clip:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=xxYJqagN8jM