Should voters be required to show photo ID?

[Razgovory]

Tell you what, try to get 300 illegals with no knowledge of spoken English to line up at a polling station and having them vote under names like George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Bob Dole, and then that might indicate we have a problem.

[derspiess]

Tell you what, try to get 300 illegals with no knowledge of spoken English to line up at a polling station and having them vote under names like George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Bob Dole, and then that might indicate we have a problem.

That's more like it.

[Razgovory]

That is what you guys are afraid of right?  Illegal immigrants voting en masse against your interests?

[derspiess]

That is what you guys are afraid of right?  Illegal immigrants voting en masse against your interests?

Yes, terribly.  Keeps us up at night.

[crazy canuck]

That is what you guys are afraid of right?  Illegal immigrants voting en masse against your interests?

Yes, terribly.  Keeps us up at night.

Figures.  Go out and buy some more guns.  That ought to calm your nerves.

[Siege]

This requirement sounds fine in theory, but the devil may be in the details.  Given how Republicans are far more disproportionally motivated to enact such requirements, my guess is that there is a serious voter suppression effect at stake that's biased in one ideological direction.

Which is a good thing, or otherwise all the illegals would vote.

[DGuller]

This requirement sounds fine in theory, but the devil may be in the details.  Given how Republicans are far more disproportionally motivated to enact such requirements, my guess is that there is a serious voter suppression effect at stake that's biased in one ideological direction.

Which is a good thing, or otherwise all the illegals would vote.

Do you think your retardation schtick is amusing?  Serious question.

[derspiess]

Figures.  Go out and buy some more guns.  That ought to calm your nerves.

Yes, it's fear that drives me to collect guns.  In fact, I sleep with a Mosin Nagant under my pillow.  Bayonet retracted, of course.

[KRonn]

Is preventing vote fraud an important enough thing that it needs to be done even if you know a side effect will be a boost to the wrong party?

lulz

Nobody answered the question. 

I don't understand why it's a boost to one party or the other. I know that Dems feel it's a nasty thing, to require IDs to vote, but really, I just don't see the problem. States give the IDs for free, to avoid any kind of pol tax. And most people have some kind of ID anyway. Even the poor and minorities, who I assume are two groups Dems feel would be disadvantaged. They have driver's licenses, or other forms of IDs ,or if poor and collecting govt benefits they likely some ID. So they can use the same IDs to vote, or get the free IDs the govt provides.

[Ed Anger]

Figures.  Go out and buy some more guns.  That ought to calm your nerves.

Yes, it's fear that drives me to collect guns.  In fact, I sleep with a Mosin Nagant under my pillow.  Bayonet retracted, of course.

That is a HUGE pillow.

[Sheilbh]

I don't understand why it's a boost to one party or the other. I know that Dems feel it's a nasty thing, to require IDs to vote, but really, I just don't see the problem.

I mentioned earlier that a study's been done in Indiana.  Democrats and Independents are about 3-5% less likely to have a photo ID than Republican and certain groups, for example, African Americans are significantly less likely to have photo ID.  It's not a feeling Democrats have it's a fact.

I've said that I don't think the level of fraud justifies the extra hassle.  I certainly don't think it justifies the hassle and the cost of providing people with free, legitimate photo ID.

[dps]

States give the IDs for free, to avoid any kind of pol tax. 

That's not true right now.  Currently, in at least some states, a state-issued non-driver's ID isn't free.

If you're going to require an ID to vote, I think that the first thing you'd have to do would be to issue them for free.

I've said that I don't think the level of fraud justifies the extra hassle.  I certainly don't think it justifies the hassle and the cost of providing people with free, legitimate photo ID.

I think that voting fraud is a bigger problem than a lot of people realize.  I just don't think this is going to do much to solve it, because I don't think that people showing up at the polling place and voting under an assumed name is the main way voting fraud is conducted (though I could be wrong about that).

[Sheilbh]

I think that voting fraud is a bigger problem than a lot of people realize.  I just don't think this is going to do much to solve it, because I don't think that people showing up at the polling place and voting under an assumed name is the main way voting fraud is conducted (though I could be wrong about that).

Absolutely.  I've said there are studies that indicate this is minimal as a problem.  However I know there are problems with fraud in this country around postal and absentee ballots which need to be dealt with.  I imagine if there's any organised fraud in the US it'll probably be the same.

[Razgovory]

I suspect that voter fraud is much less of a problem then is often assumed considering how low the number charges and convictions have been made about it.  It makes a good excuse for why the election didn't go the way you wanted it to.

[Eddie Teach]

I suspect that voter fraud is much less of a problem then is often assumed considering how low the number charges and convictions have been made about it.  It makes a good excuse for why the election didn't go the way you wanted it to.

That could be a sign that it's rare, or it could be a sign that it's easy to hide.