the Right to Vote

[Franco]

Where I vote here in Louisiana, I need to provide a Voter Registration card as well as a Driver's License.

I think that the two should be mandatory to lessen voting fraud.

Also, every place I've voted in the south, there are whites and blacks looking over the shoulders of the folks that look up your name on the rolls.

[BonMallari]

I live about 1000 miles from the city where I was born. Last time I needed to get a birth certificate so I could get a passport, I had about a 4 week wait.

try one year of correspondence with the State Dept.and countless lawyer fees trying to get an FS-240 form (consular report of birth)...well worth every penny spent..if mom hadnt kept all of my dad's military records the wait and cost might have been more

[Cody Covey]

Where I vote here in Louisiana, I need to provide a Voter Registration card as well as a Driver's License.

I think that the two should be mandatory to lessen voting fraud.

What do you do about places like where I live where almost the whole state is mail-in ballots?

[Franco]

What do you do about places like where I live where almost the whole state is mail-in ballots?

A photo copy of the driver's license(or official state ID) and voter registration should accompany the mail in vote. Anyone opposed to this is looking to allow illegal voting.

[YardleyLabs]

Almost any requirement can sound reasonable. That doesn't mean it is. I live in a town that is less 1/2 mile from end to end. A state road passes through it. When you cross the town limits, the speed limit goes down to 25 and returns to 40 shortly after. A cop is almost always stationed at the mid-point. For years, the town derived a lot of money from tickets issued. Only non-residents were ticketed unless you were driving over 50. After various threatened law suits, the policy was finally changed. There was nothing unreasonable about the law; the problem was the enforcement.

Even with the laws that exist now, poll watchers can almost guarantee that valid voters will be excluded from voting simply by challenging their right to vote. If such a challenge is issued, the voter can still complete a provisional ballot, but to protect his right to vote will need to go to the county seat, which is 45 minutes away by car and cannot be reached by public transportation. Only about 10% of challenged voters ever show up. What a surprise. Instead of looking for ways to keep people from voting, we should be looking at ways to get more people to vote every time. In many countries, you face fines if you fail to vote, and you might not be able to obtain essential documents such as drivers licenses and passports. Our entire system is designed to discourage voting so that incumbents can continue to hold office with the support of only a small percentage of eligible voters.

[Ken Bora]

I disagree with this Jeff.
I feel there is equal responsibly between person running and voter. Maybe more on the voter.
While the runner runs and makes positions clear or not and slings mud or not.
The voter sits back and absorbs it all. During this Looooooong campaign the voter has plenty of time.
To ready themselves to vote. It is a privilege, one that can be lost by the voter.
I want informed, willing voters who have taken the extra step choosing the government officials who work for me.
The lazy, uninformed, uncaring voter is far worse than not voting at all.
And I find it quite pathetic by the way.





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[Ken Bora]

This year we have to dip our forefinger in a bottle of ink to show we voted.

O.K. that was a creeper
a good one, but it needed to fester a bit

[huntinman]

I live about 1000 miles from the city where I was born. Last time I needed to get a birth certificate so I could get a passport, I had about a 4 week wait.

You can get it on something called the internet these days

[Cody Covey]

Almost any requirement can sound reasonable. That doesn't mean it is. I live in a town that is less 1/2 mile from end to end. A state road passes through it. When you cross the town limits, the speed limit goes down to 25 and returns to 40 shortly after. A cop is almost always stationed at the mid-point. For years, the town derived a lot of money from tickets issued. Only non-residents were ticketed unless you were driving over 50. After various threatened law suits, the policy was finally changed. There was nothing unreasonable about the law; the problem was the enforcement.

Even with the laws that exist now, poll watchers can almost guarantee that valid voters will be excluded from voting simply by challenging their right to vote. If such a challenge is issued, the voter can still complete a provisional ballot, but to protect his right to vote will need to go to the county seat, which is 45 minutes away by car and cannot be reached by public transportation. Only about 10% of challenged voters ever show up. What a surprise. Instead of looking for ways to keep people from voting, we should be looking at ways to get more people to vote every time. In many countries, you face fines if you fail to vote, and you might not be able to obtain essential documents such as drivers licenses and passports. Our entire system is designed to discourage voting so that incumbents can continue to hold office with the support of only a small percentage of eligible voters.

So you completely get rid of that arguement by having to show birth certificate and ID or passport. Again if they can't be bothered to get those items they shouldn't be voting. They have a year between elections and its always the same time so it does not creep up on them. You're okay with forcing people to vote but not with have to prove who the hell you are.