GOP To "Rig" Elections By Requiring A Proper I.D. To Vote According To DNC Chairwoman

[Dave]

To say Debbie is a bit goofy is a bit of an understatement. She's one that mentioned we should all buy American auto's yet she owns a foreign vehicle awhile back. The way I see it, if a person really wants to vote, they will do whatever they need to to make sure that they can. There are plenty of community organizations that will help people with getting to and from voting locations as well as helping them get ID's if that is what is needed. For her to call the requirement for an ID cheating is just plain silly.

DNC Chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL) says the Republican party is trying to disenfranchise and "suppress" the votes of minorities and other groups in the Democratic voting bloc by enacting laws requiring a valid I.D. at polls.

"It's very transparent who they're trying to block from the polls and who they're trying to block from the polls and who they want to smooth the path for," Wasserman Schultz said in an interview with MSNBC's Martin Bashir.

State Republican legislatures are passing bills that require a valid I.D. in order to vote to prevent voter fraud. However, Wasserman Schultz denies that charge, saying fraud is "simply a problem that doesn't exist."

The DNC Chairwoman accused the Republican party of not being able to "win elections on the merits," so they have to cheat.

"They know they can't win elections on the merits, so they're trying to rig elections by blocking people's access to the polls," Wasserman Schultz charged.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2011/12/01/wasserman_schultz...

[Marty Redman]

This is one of those better mousetraps deals.  Down here in Chicago, they get away with fraud all the time no matter what they do to fight it.  If everyone gets free IDs there'll be fraud.  If everyone needs to flash a valid ID there'll be fraud.  Put everyone in a holding pen after they vote and shoot to kill if they try to escape before the polls close.

[Dave]

It's cases like these that make me prefer having the ID's required on election day. While they will never totally eliminate fraud, IMO, I think it will limit any fraud as much as possible. Rhode Island has the right idea and already have it set up that if you can't afford a drivers license/state ID that they will help you get one. They took action after one of their democratic congress members went to vote only to find out when they arrived that she had and her daughter had already voted, even though they hadn't. Requiring ID's isn't a perfect law by any means but until it can be shown that it causes more issues then what it helps, I am going to be alright with the law.

Indiana 2008 Presidential Primary Election Fraud Probe Heats Up

By Eric Shawn

Published December 07, 2011 | FoxNews.com

 

Charity Rorie, a mother of four, sat in her Mishawaka, Ind., kitchen, stunned that her name appeared on a 2008 Democratic presidential primary petition for then-candidate Barack Obama.

"That's not my signature," she told Fox News, saying her signature is "absolutely" a fake. She also said she was troubled someone forged both her signature and that of her husband, Jeff, and listed personal details such as their address and birthdays.

"It's scary," Rorie said. "It's shocking. It definitely is illegal. A lot of people have already lost faith in politics and the whole realm of politics, so that just solidifies all of our worries and concerns."

Robert Hunter Jr. said his name was faked, too.

"I did not sign for Barack Obama," he told Fox News, adding his signature supporting the then-Illinois senator's effort to get on the primary ballot was also a forgery.

As he examined the Obama petition he held in his hands, Hunter pointed out that "I always put 'Junior' after my name, every time ... there's no 'Junior' there." He said the signature on the petition looks "very close" to his real one, but it clearly is not.

"My wife and I actually signed a petition for Hillary Clinton," he said. "I am an Obama fan, but not in the primaries I wasn't."

The prospect that theirs are two of an estimated 150 signatures that may have been forged on the petitions has raised the question of whether President Obama actually reached the legitimate number of signatures needed to be placed on the ballot in Indiana. Under state law, presidential candidates need to file 500 signatures from each of the state's nine congressional districts. Indiana election officials say that in St. Joseph County, the Obama campaign qualified with 534 signatures; Clinton's camp had 704. The certified signatures were never challenged.

"I had always thought that, now-President Obama, had earned his victory in Indiana," said the state's Republican chairman, Eric Holcomb. "But then I quickly learned that he had cheated his way on to the ballot in the primary."

The allegations that election fraud touched a race for the highest office in the land are at the center of an investigation by St. Joseph County Attorney Michael Dvorak. He would not comment, but sources say the probe is gaining steam as prosecutors delve into the petitions that sailed through the St. Joseph County Voter Registration Board, located in South Bend. There have been reports that as many as seven people may have been involved in an alleged conspiracy to fake the petitions.

"I was very surprised," said the newly elected Democratic chairman of St. Joseph County, State Sen. John Broden. "This is a bipartisan issue that we need to take a look at ... so I hope that this is something, that we as both parties, try to look at what exactly happened, and most importantly, how do we prevent it from happening again."

Broden recently replaced long-serving Democratic Chairman Butch Morgan, who resigned suddenly in October under party pressure because of the scandal.

"There is no evidence that Butch Morgan ever personally directed, authorized or condoned the forging or alteration of petition signatures," said his attorney, Shaw Friedman, who argued against the resignation. He said Morgan did "absolutely not" forge any signatures, or know who might have.

"This is a man who has worked mightily over the 20 years that he served as district chairman, to do so fairly, ethically, appropriately, and my concern was that he not leave under these circumstances," Friedman told Fox News.

He called the alleged forgeries "a sloppy, amateurish effort, ordinarily that kind of thing would have been caught by the voter registration offices. I'm not quite sure here why it slipped through."

St. Joseph County Board of Voter Registration worker Dustin Blythe has reportedly been identified as having handwriting that matches the writing on some of the suspect Obama petitions. The South Bend Tribune and the political newsletter Howey Politics Indiana hired a handwriting analyst who examined the documents and says Blythe's writing can be found on "nine suspicious pages from the Obama petition," according to the newspaper.

http://nation.foxnews.com/politics/2011/12/07/2008-voter-fraud-inve...

[Dave]

Just wanted to go back and touch on the subject a little.

As I've noted, I support the idea of showing an ID to vote. When you think about it, showing ones ID is not that uncommon of a thing. If your younger and go to buy cigarettes, alcohol or ever a movie, your asked for your ID. If you go to board a airplane, you need an ID. Want to rent a car? Get out your ID. Need a driver's license? You need to provide some sort of identification (birth certificate, bills for example). Get stopped by the police... get out your license. Go into a casino if your younger... get out your ID (I still get ID'd once in a great while.. got ID'd going into the Blue Chip casino a couple years ago).

Asking someone to provide an ID to vote isn't a big issue. A person that honestly wants to vote, will do what they need to so that they can make their vote count. Most states where ID laws have been put in place provide help for people that can't afford them, usually at no cost. There have been a few occasions where older citizens are having issues, mostly because they were either born at home or some other similar situation and didn't end up having a birth certificate made. I do think the states should help those citizens that are in that circumstance.

[XLFD]

I sense we are close to agreement on this issue, Dave.  I think the 'best' thing to do would be to make the "Voter Registration Card" that we all get in the mail after we register to vote, upgraded into a picture ID replete with bar code and anti-counterfeiting technology whose information is put into a national database. 

But I think many individuals concerned about privacy issues would have qualms about registering with such a Big Brother system; I know I would have second thoughts about exercising my right to vote at the expense of my right to privacy.  Is there an easy answer for all?

[Willy]

I agree with Dave.The drivers license or State ID should suffice. The state issues personal ID's if someone doesn't have a drivers license. We don't need another form of picture ID such as a new type of voter registration card. There are not that many people who don't have a drivers license or State ID. I don't know how anyone can get thru all the legal BS that we are required to abide by without some form of ID as Dave has pointed out. The number of people who do not have some sort of ID is very tiny. We need to know that folks who are voting are U.S.citizens and residents of their precinct. This is extremely important.

[snide]

again thogh , willie . It goes back to how is that ID obtained.some folks don't drive ---therefor no drivers license. what are they supposed to use..?  Those DL's are not free....so making it mandatory IS a form of poll tax.  Yes . It is a hassle getting through all the legal BS that we are required to abide by . But I don't know of a form of photo ID that is totally free of charge as VOTING should be.......

[Willy]

It's not a poll tax. Is my drivers license fee considered a poll tax because I am required to show my license when I vote? I had to pay for a drivers license and so did you. If someone is going to be an active citizen they'll have to spend a little money. Even the folks I know who don't drive have a State ID. How do you cash checks or do any other business without an ID. I don't buy the argument that we shouldn't require ID's for voting because a very few people don't have a driver's license and they shouldn't be required to purchase State ID because they're so poor. Poor John doesn't have a drivers license and will have to spend $10 for a State ID. I guess because of John nobody should have to show ID so John's self esteem is not damaged.

[snide]

I am willing to wager that more people don't have an ID than people that were arrested for voter fraud......... If you need an ID to vote and no form of ID is totally free of charge--- VOTING IS THEN NOT FREE....PERIOD. What part of that is false....?

[Willy]

People are required to wear clothes when they go outside or when they visit the polling sites. Is the price paid for clothes considered a public access tax or poll tax? Preserving a trusted system of elections is of utmost importance to everyone. Caving into the argument that people shouldn't have to provide ID because the ID may cost money therefore voting is not free makes no sense.

[snide]

again , what part of my argument is false...? If something is required and is not provided to use a free service,as voting is supposed to be, is that not a form of tax....?  As far as "preserving a trusted system of elections" (your words). The way the government keeps records and administrates that system is QUITE laughable....

[Willy]

Who said voting is free. Your taxes pay for the entire voting process and the cost of elections is not cheap and your assumption that money used to purchase the proper ID is considered a poll tax is false. Sometimes people have to act like grownups and take responsibility for their themselves. Obtaining ID is one of those grownup acts. Asking other citizens to pay for the ID because they feel entitled is not assuming a role of responsibility. It's not my duty to pay for someone else's ID. If someone feels the burden to pay $10 for a State ID is to much then maybe they should turn off their cable for a month and spend the money on things of importance.

[Dave]

Snide, from what I've read and heard, most states offer free ID's to those that can't afford them and will even come to where the person lives to take the picture for the ID. I mean we all end up paying for the 'free' ID's one way or another but I think generally that a small number of people are who will actually be getting the free ID's so it basically cost us under a $1 and probably even cheaper then that when averaged out via the residents of any given state.