Michigan Governor Rick Snyder vetoed a voter I.D. law this week-- but Republicans have been more successful in Pennsylvania-- where over 750,000 registered voters may not be able to vote in November. Michael Eric Dyson explains.
Earlier this week, Gov. Rick Snyder (R-Mich.) went against members of his own party and vetoed a voter ID law.
But not all is lost for those who want to suppress the vote.
In the past two years, five battleground states (Florida, Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin) have tightened their voting laws, which disproportionately disenfranchise minorities, the young, the old and the poor.
And in Pennsylvania, the impact of a new voter ID law could be much bigger than Republicans had originally anticipated. Barack Obama won the state by the biggest majority of any candidate since 1972. But thanks to a new voter ID law, over 758,000 registered voters in Pennsylvania could be disenfranchised this November.
Republicans claim that these laws help prevent voter fraud.
But here's the truth: in the past decade, 649 million votes were cast in general elections. There were also 47,000 UFO sightings. 441 Americans were killed by lightning. And just 13 (yes,13) credible cases of in-person voter impersonation.
This isn't about voter fraud. This is about voter suppression.
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This IS Ridiculous - This Crap Has Got to Be Stopped Before the Election !!! This Uncalled For And As WE ALL Know Anti-Constitutional and Un-American !!! What a Sick Bunch of GOMERS That Are Attempting to Over-Throw The Rights of Americans !!!
Were those 13 impersonators republican, independent, liberterian, or democrat? Aren't those figures important enough to take into account? I bet I know who they were. Who else tries to defraud and election....??????
I would really like to know.
Why does it matter what they were...they were breaking the law regardless of their political affiliation. I personally am in favor of eliminating voter fraud from any person who does it...maybe you liberals only care if it is Republicans.
And based on this report it seems that the liberals think that all cases of voter fraud were uncovered and that these 13 are all of them. I mean, there is no way that someone has committed voter fraud and not been caught...
just saying..
Republicans call these voter ID laws "campaigning."
Our state was so nice under Ed Rendell. our former Democratic governor. Now we have this GOP s.o.b, Tom Corbett, as well as the T-party legislature. It is a whole different state and it only took two years.
My youngest son, a Democrat, was one of the disenfranchised and is going to extraordinary lengths to qualify to vote this year. He has always voted, so this is very new, and like everything else the GOP does, is very troubling.
This party will do anything to win, include stopping Democrats from their constitutional right to vote.
Please wake up, people, this is a whole NEW Republican party.
MD/MI. Yeah, I've seen this state turn unrecognizable under these right-wingers. PA was nearly always a Democratic, union state. They are going about changing that, too. It is a travesty what they have done in a few short years.
Please tell me which legally registered citizen has been denied their constitutional right to vote because they are a Democrat. Oh, thats right, there isn't one...
just saying...
No you are just pretending you actually have a thought and not just more GOP excuses for voter purges to stop a problem that doesn't happen. But then you are just another re reg so really capt entitled your word is less valued then Mittens word.
Republicans aren't above voter supression: Especially the minorities. It has happened before.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULWJEFbR0SM&feature=related
The entire chad thing was because their florda Supression tactics did not work.
Why was 9/11 allowed to happen?
Lets use a little Democratic logic in this situation by looking at another situation which will help prove my point...
An article in this morning's USA TODAY talks about how states are cracking down on the use of EBT cards by recipients for products not approved by government such as alcohol, tobacco, casino's, etc.. According to the article...
Last year, Massachusetts passed a law that prohibits spending cash assistance on alcohol, tobacco and lottery tickets. But it is "not possible to pinpoint what is being purchased, as many retail stores sell a variety of products including food, household items, alcohol and tobacco," says Alec Loftus, a spokesman for the Office of Health and Human Services.
In Massachusetts, clients must pay back misused money, and store owners who knowingly let welfare recipients spend the money on prohibited items can be fined up to $1,000 — but Loftus says no one has turned in any violators.....
Since no one has turned in any violators, I am guessing that MASS does not have a single person who has violated that law yet...right? You liberals must want this law repealed also. I mean, that is the same logic you libs are using as far as the voter fraud in this country is concerned.
just saying....
No you are just repeating a non story to discredit the poor who have EBT cards in your rather lame attempts at modernizing the Old Reagan welfare queen lie spread by right wing news sources. Every election cycle since 1979 the GOP have put stories out about how the system is being abused. What you fail to do capt entitled is connect the dots and see that for all their whining about these so called abuses few cases are ever prosecuted. Even more amusing capt entitled is how you seem to believe that you will keep your government handouts and everyone you whine about will lose theirs but that is just your delusions, here is a clue capt entitled, if the Ryan plan gets put into place you are going to be left picking up the tab for all of your medical benefits you currently enjoy from your government provided health care that you received from working for the government.
They know they can not win this election with truth and dignity!! They have to resort to lies and to try and stop the vote they know is going to Pres. Obama. I haven't for the life of me found out yet what Romney is running on, I love Obama, but when I ask a republican to give me a reason to vote for Romney - they cannot!!!!
Shameful behavior. Out and out sabotage that is immoral. Where are the moral Conservative that would be embarrassed to win an election by cheating in this manner? Surely some of these people are hard working, church going Americans that know right from wrong? Please?
Pennsylvania Democrats, get busy fighting this terrorism.
They have it fixed so there's nothing we can do except try to get people qualified. Not an easy task. I despise this new governor, Tom Corbett. He's all about the fracking in PA. Everything else is secondary.
Now PA is being run like a right-wing Southern state.
Isn't it interesting that the fascist party that hates the same "big government" that it actually created during the Bush years, now wants to use "big government" as a means of "documenting" its citizens?
Sound familiar, like perhaps a repetition of some world history that happened the around the mid 1930's?
Next, they will want to tattoo our serial number on our wrists.
As the Congressman from Pennsylvania said, this is all about electing Mitt Romney so the conservatives without consciences can turn the US into a corporate entity. Since the Supreme Court ruled that corporations are people, it all fits in nicely. Our democracy is at risk and we the people have to make sure that we do not draw the short straw in November. Otherwise, the wealthy, greedy, self-centered egotistical individuals will continue to destroy the greatness of this country and replace it with a libertarian society of survival of the fitness. This ties in well with what Karl Rove, Grover Norquist and the Koch brothers have wanted for years now.
sad thing is the golden rule. those that have the gold make the rules. only way out of that is our vote. don't vote and the golden ones get the fleece.........
He'sback, They have made PA the hardest ever state in which to cast a Democratic vote. PA is a big swing state and W. PA, where I live, is mainly blue-collar Republicans. They hate Obama. They are clueless. They'd vote for Romney or Charles Manson as long as it isn't Obama. There is a lot of prejudice here. A LOT. It is sickening the ignorance one encounters in the electorate.
Based on his comments isn't there anything the Department of Justice can do to stop this?
I'm sick of the EC being the way it is. time for the popular vote. you know the one where you don't have to be a rich land owner or should I say plantation owner.
It is also possible that not a single person will be disenfranchised because EVERY person in PA may be eligible to get a FREE photo ID if they do not already have one. Additionally, EVERY person can still go to the polling place and cast a provisional ballot and then have another 6 days to produce a photo ID.
Its a good thing that the pundits on MSNBC don't report on the issues in a way that pushes their liberal agenda instead of telling the whole truth...
just saying...
Once Again You are Duckin' and Dodgin' === The POINT IS ,Is That There Is NO Reason For this Voter Suppression To Be Implemented In The First Place - Period !!!!
Other Than to Block Legal Votes - Legal Americans Constitutional Rights - in Order to Stack the Deck !!!
NO Other Reason is Plausible !!!!
There-Fore It IS Illegal !!!!
first I agree with MD/MI your correct.
next is this pundit statement. there have been adds on MSNBC more or less stating that it may be hard to get in your vote but not let that stop you. suppression of the voter is why you need to vote.
not everyone is blind to the political games of the GOP............
hes - Agree - The Fight Must Continue Or Our Voting Rights Will Be Over-Run !!!
Where Is the DOJ - They Should Stepping On This Left and Right !!!
give it time MD/MI. there's a full time effort to keep a full time plate going and that is obvious concerning politics and the DOJ.
There is NO SUPPRESSION. Every person has 4 months to get one of SEVERAL forms of ID that are acceptable. There is not one legal vote that is being blocked by this law...
just saying...
Right we can trust your word for that right capt entitled. Oh wait that is right your word is useless, that you were banned for making death threats and then re reg under a new name shows just how honest you are. If you believe we actually think that the GOP are dealing with an honest event well one question why weren't they worried about voter fraud in 2010. Oh yeah that is right they didn't have a loser like Mittens running they just lied their way into office on a jobs jobs jobs platform.
Storm, Why don't you just stop sayin' what you know nothing about.
India...
is there something about you being told the facts that bothers you?
just saying...
capt entitled you have no facts, what you do have is a delusional paranoid mind that gets the better of you and we should be glad that there are no Amish Schools in Texas.
Wheres my facts? Wheres your facts that prove voter ID's will stop voter fraud when there is no voter fraud to stop. FFS, get real you want a law that amounts to making a law that stops people from using an SUV for water skiing on the great lakes, no one uses SUV's for water skiing because SUV's don't make good boats. No one commits voter fraud that voter ID would prevent period, end of story, dead discussion, no proof. Why are you wanting big bother government papers please laws, for someone that whines government is to big all I see is someone wanting more big government to stop people from voting.
this is so full of crap
you cant do anything in today's society with out an ID
you cant cash a check, open a bank account, buy a pack of cigarettes, buy alcohol, you cant legally get a job you cant apply for government assistants like food stamps, welfare, medicare or medicaid, you cant legally drive a car, own a house or sign a lease, sign up for electricity and water, get a library card, apply for and get health insurance including Obama care the list goes on and on. so you are trying to tell me that 1 out of 4 blacks never did any of that i just listed
Do you know you have to show a picture ID to get into alot of government buildings Eric Holder requires you to show and ID to walk into the DOJ building you need one to get into the WH and Capital Hill hell Michell Obama required you to show a picture ID to get into her book signing
You liberal mental midgets might believe it that crap and if you do i have a bridge i want to sell you
Democrats don't want voter ID laws for one reason and one reason only because it will cut down on voter fraud that they have been benefiting from for decades
let's see....your right about today's society being ID prone. now give me a reason then why we can't have the popular vote? remember I'm in that mental midget class you refer to. explain to me slow and concisely.
because it is in the Constitution that we have an electoral college that when you vote you elect a delegate that then turns around and cast a vote for you I'm not saying I agree with it but that is our Constitution and if you want it changed it needs to be amended
ahhhh constitutional. hmmmm....ring a bell...........
I assume you did not observe the chart at this top of this? Did you notice that there are a lot of people who live day to day with out an ID. They do not have cars for one reason or another. Maybe they don't need one. They don't have bank accounts or credit cards. They do Cash only business. They don't fly on aircraft, or go anywhere too far from home. They don't need a pass port or drivers license, and could waste money on ID's when they need the daily necessities and they pretty well take their pay check to just scrape by. But scrape by they do. So, TRJ, what are your next arguments. I have had some sort of photo ID every since I started in University, and I've always had the need for a drivers license, and I have a passport All because "I" have a need for them. But I understand not "All Other" do. Are you a romney elitist?
Hes, alway convent when they need it. They just don't like Obama to use the constitution.
you got it TM...they are so obvious. I would have loved to see the first woman vote here in the USA. I'll bet the hoods were furious................
And these people you talking about never cashed a check they never applied for government assistants because the struggle week to week they never bought a pack of cigarettes or a beer look I'm not saying every single person in America has an ID but I'm sure a hell of alot more 75% of African Americans have an ID And it is pretty racist if you say they don't because what are you trying to say are you saying they to lazy or stupid to get one ?
My state SC passed a voter ID law and announced on TV radio and news papers that if you needed a ID you can call your local police they will come pick you up and take you to get an ID for free do you want to know how many did it? about 500 state wide
@hesback
yes the same constitutuion that says all citizens have the right to vote but the key word is citizens so how is it wrong to show you are a citizen
also the Supreme Court ruled that voter ID is lawful under that same Constitution you are referring to
The Constitution also says that I have the right to own a weapon, but the liberals are not complaining about anyone having to show an ID to buy one.
just saying...
It's interesting that the conservatives always talk about the need for IDs, but absolutely never mention the right to vote or how they want to make sure that everyone who has a right to vote does.
Don't set up any agencies to make it easier to get an ID if you never had one, don't lift a finger to help those who would be unfairly disenfranchised. Just say "go get it" and don't give a damn if they can or not.
When other ground-breaking laws are enacted that change the way things have been done for hundreds of years, there's always a long period of time so people can deal with it. Look at the ACA. 4 years till most of it kicks in. But with this voter ID law, it was enacted immediately, with absolutely no delay.
Only seem to have one agenda in mind, and it isn't voter rights.
What makes you think you need an ID to get a gun?
If your a felon your not suppose to have a gun and you can't vote. But you can be president.
@Chris
there is where you are wrong When SC passed its voter ID law they announced on TV, Radio, and Newspapers if you need a ID call your local police station and they will pick you up and drive you to the local DMV and they will provide you with a free ID and give you a ride home and do you want to know how many did so? only 22 people state wide do you hear me only 22 people so don't hand me this bull@!$%# the state did everything it can do to make sure these people who want to vote has an ID to do so
Well yet again trf shows his lack of knowledge on reality. Here is a clue trf, if you are poor you avoid police contact or you could find yourself confessing to every unsolved crime in the city. That you believe the poor would accept a ride from the police just shows how little you know of the real world. Oh and also there is your neighbors who may be doing illegal things guess what happens if your seen riding around with police.
you are a typical ocupuker rapist who think the police are evil and are out to get you
you need to put down that blunt its making you very paranoid
And wasn't you in the other thread saying we need to hire more police
TRF- I'd like to know where you got that information from. I googled it, and the only information I got was:
S.C. FILES LEGAL CHALLENGE TO DOJ’S DENIAL OF VOTER I.D. LAW
Attorney General Alan Wilson today filed a lawsuit in United State District Court against the federal government and the head of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Attorney General Eric Holder.
The DOJ has refused to allow South Carolina to enact its Voter I.D. law, claiming it does not adequately protect voters from discrimination, per the 1965 Voting Rights Act. However, very similar laws have been upheld by the United States Supreme Court (in the case of Indiana), and even pre-cleared by the DOJ itself (in the case of Georgia).
The state’s Voter I.D. law was passed in 2011, and requires voters to show photo identification. The identification can be obtained free of charge from the S.C. Department of Motor Vehicles.
The complaint explains: “The covered voting changes in Act R54 [Voter I.D. law] do not and will not prohibit any voter in South Carolina from voting for or electing his or her preferred candidate of choice.”
Which means it never got passed. May be why no one needed to take them up on their offer.
Disagree with TRF and he starts hurling insults. Must have no way of backing up his claims. And shows how immature he is.
yep Chris you got it. just takes time for the righties to catch up.
I think the Kochvine is a little slow with info these days. could be a fall back of funds due to super pac priorities....Obama may not have the same amount but he ain't throwin a line of BS at the public either like the runner up is..........and that's gonna take alot of money to sell Romney........
@The Real Chris
"When other ground-breaking laws are enacted that change the way things have been done for hundreds of years, there's always a long period of time so people can deal with it. Look at the ACA. 4 years till most of it kicks in. But with this voter ID law, it was enacted immediately, with absolutely no delay.
I believe that the Law was passed back in 2003 and part of the agreement was tougher ID requirements. so this is not something that happened overnight only that most of the states were controlled by Democratic legislatures that did nothing to improve the current situation.
Bring on Mitt so these middle class Republican can get what they deserve. I'm sick of hearing their lies. Give'm Mitt.
They deserve Mitt but not the rest of us. I know how you feal though. if there was just a way...........
They're all full of mitt.
Michael, #7 Yeah, I know how you feel, but like He'sback, the rest of us will suffer a deep recession. The deficit will increase terribly, as well. The country will be an Oligarchy where the very wealthy have ALL the power over the citizens. We will have no defence against them at all.
They will have complete authority. We will be defenceless.
Seems in Michigan they already have a dictator running it! So I wouldn't expect the polls to be accurate on election day.
Weird that he's against the voter ID law. Maybe he figures everybody hates him enough already.
Well it figures, Tommy boy does it again. He is playing bully. Trying to cut out the very people whom he has marginalized. He it nothing more than a thief. He tried to destroy my family and now he is trying to destroy the state that built.. He is a disgusting human being. He should Never been the Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He is not worthy of that title or the Office. He doesn't even have Character, Honor, or Dignity. So why do the people of Pennsylvania and other states vote these crooks into office. He doesn't care about the middle class.. He doesn't care for woman, and he sure as hell doesn't care for the Commonwealth he has been entrusted with. So when are you going to Get Him OUT of Office..???
Nakita,#9 We're going to try. It won't be easy. I despise the man. Under Ed Rendell this was a great state, now it's another T-Party casualty.
Voters need to get rid of the Republican Party needs to Go before it is too late. This is just another way for Fat, White Males to get their way in my former state.. Wow.. Who saw that coming?
I just don't get the resistance to emilinating voter fraud, it is rampid and out of control. Besides, literally anything I do, i have to provide some type of I.D.
All of these states that have taken these voter suppression laws need to be taken to federal court immediately by US Attorney General Holder. These voter ID laws are a clear violation of the 1965 Voter Rights act. I really want Obama and the Department of Justice to start hitting back absolutely as hard as they possibly can everyday at these mindless lackey Tea Party Republicans. Voter registration should be a simple matter of same day registration at the polls with modern computer and digital records or better yet a month long mail in ballot. These mail in ballets work well in Oregon and Colorado. We need to expand voting rights rather than trying to suppress voter turn out. 700,000 voters denied the right to vote in Pennsylvania are clearly a GOP scheme to limit the right to vote of citizens. Most of these laws are solutions looking for a problem. The DOJ and AG Holder need to be more aggressive in taking on all of these states and their questionable voter ID laws. These states must be sued immediately in Federal Court for an injunction.
Davey idiot: The right to vote for a citizen is guaranteed in the Constitution in our Bill of Rights. Where is your proof that voting fraud is rampant? All the research shows that these right winged talking points are false. How many documented cases of voter fraud are there in Florida or in other states that have passed these voter ID laws? Senior Citizens, college students, handicapped people, and others do not have driver's licenses. Imagine being 80 years old and trying to find a copy of your birth certificate? Many older people were born in someone's house. So these voter ID laws are absolutely absurd and unconstitutional. The election judges across the country have done a good job in making sure people who are eligible voters get to vote. Voting is not the same as going to the liquor store to buy Jack Daniels. Voting is a right that must be protected from right winged reactionaries who mindlessly think suppressing voting rights of citizens is a good thing. These voting ID laws are horrible laws for our democracy. Anyone who supports these voter ID laws is definitely ignorant and probably racist.
I have the right to own a gun, but I have to show an ID to buy one.
The concept of voter suppression is just another Left wing talking point that they are using to try and rally their weak minded minions.
The Supreme Court has already ruled in favor of the Voter ID law in one state, so I guess that shoots down your idea of them being unconstitutional.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2858132/posts
In Miami, it has been proven that there were over 1000 cases of people who were not legally entitled to be voting, but yet had cast votes in previous elections.
These voting laws are a step in the right direction to save our democracy from the idiocy of the Democrats and their attempt to hijack this country...
just saying...
I have said it before and I will NOT stop making this point until this swindle being perpetrated by the Republican Party is stopped.
Why is it that having a driver's license is deemed as a "PRIVILEGE" by state law, however, this "PRIVILEGE" is now a prerequisite in Republican run states, before one can vote?
Under U. S. Constitution, voting is OUR "RIGHT" not a "PRIVILEGE"...
Only the rich believe in "PRIVILEGE"...Americans believe in "RIGHTS".
Requiring the acquisition of a document deemed as a "PRIVILEGE" in order to vote is nothing more than convoluted pretense that is inflicting a "poll tax" on minorities and the poor with the purpose of stopping Americans from voting.
Owning a gun is also a right. Why do I have to show an ID to buy a gun?
If voting is a right..why do unions require their members to show ID in order to vote?
More leftist hypocrisy
just saying....
Because you can't be trusted with a gun that is why. After all people like you have gotten their hands on guns then in a state of delusional paranoia they shot a bunch of Amish kids because Glen Beck told them that Amish school houses were the hiding places for liberals. It is rather telling how you think buying a gun is equal to voting. Whats the matter capt entitled couldn't pass the back ground check needed to buy a gun so now you want to make sure "certain people" can't vote.
Don't you have to pay to get a driver's license? Are we now being forced to pay for the right to vote? Don't the Republicans want to stop government from forcing us to pay for things against our will? Isn't this like the ACA? I thought Republicans were against this sort of thing.
TRC...Most states are offering FREE ID cards to people who don't already have one..and at least one state...SC... offered free transportation in order to go get the free ID.
just saying...
In Georgia we have to show ID to vote, it has not created any issues and this is such abunch of BS. Now if you want to renew your driver license you hqave to show 2 forms of ID, so I guess thier will be a lawsuit claiming discrimination on the "Right" to drive when it is a privelege.
Grow up you liberal cry babies and participate in the process, if you are so concerened about disenfranchisemnet, why don't you offer to bring people to where they can get state issueds ID's. Oh thats right that is someone elses responsability not yours.
You're not fooling anybody.
It's time for the dead and Mickey Mouse to stop voting in any election. It has to start somewhere and if there are a few casualties along the way, we'll straighten them out as we go. And by the way, we don't need the New Black Panther Party standing in front of polling centers carrying batons.
If a person is to stupid or to lazy to obtain a I.D. may be they are to stupid to vote! If there right to vote is important to them they will get a I.D. The 2010 mid terms and the Wisconsion recall election must really have the Dems frightened. They know that they need all the help they can get.
You need a photo ID to cash your paycheck,buy smokes, booze, drive a car, rent/buy a place to live, to get on an airplan, to get a job, and on and on and on.
So why is it so hard to show a photo ID when you vote???
Furthermore in 1941 the congress pass a law the requires anyone 18 and over to have a state issued ID government ID or up to date pass port.
So this BS about people not being able to get a photot ID is all BS.