Voter ID controversy

[Valmy]

Your position is that the Republicans want a Voter ID to prevent masses of Democrat voters from casting ballots. Your strawmen is that the Republicans are backdooring the Democrats by creating a system that unfairly targets urban aka inner city people who usually vote largely for Democrats. You attempt to prop up this strawman with a fairy tale about the lack of proper ID that urban aka inner city people as compared to suburban dwellers.  You than reinforce the strawman with a fallacy about people without licenses being unable to get to the DMV (or similar place) because they don't drive.

A Strawman = a position Strix doesn't like?

[Habbaku]

People really shouldn't use terms they aren't familiar with. 

[DGuller]

Watching Berkut and Strix debate is like watching that video where a monkey is using a frog as a fleshlight.

I am not sure what that means.

I will assume you are mocking me for bothering to actually argue with Strixgovory, in which case I am duly shamed.

I was going for the rape analogy.  However, in this case, this isn't just any rape;  this is a rape where the victim is just so unable to fight back that it's comical.  Hence a monkey raping a frog.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVE60zwXx1k

Sigh, sometimes my analogies are too refined for the boorish audience here. 

[The Brain]

Isn't it really necessary to use the term rape in this instance?

[DGuller]

Isn't it really necessary to use the term rape in this instance?

Well, Strix was asking for it in this thread, so maybe you have a point. 

[Eddie Teach]

Having ID is pretty much required for taking part in modern society in so many ways beyond just voting, I don't see why this is such a big deal.

[Razgovory]

Watching Berkut and Strix debate is like watching that video where a monkey is using a frog as a fleshlight.

I am not sure what that means.

I will assume you are mocking me for bothering to actually argue with Strixgovory, in which case I am duly shamed.

Strix should be equally ashamed to argue with you.

[derspiess]

I'm ashamed I'm not bothering to argue in this thread.  But it's quittin' time on a Friday, so I'm going to get started with whatever the hell I'm doing this weekend...

[garbon]

I'm ashamed I'm not bothering to argue in this thread.  But it's quittin' time on a Friday, so I'm going to get started with whatever the hell I'm doing this weekend...

Pretty sure we captured your opinion when you started the same thread in April.

[Berkut]

Having ID is pretty much required for taking part in modern society in so many ways beyond just voting, I don't see why this is such a big deal.

That is actually why it is a pretty clever move on the part of the Republicans. At first glance, it seems like such a perfectly reasonable position to take - after all, it doesn't seem all that onerous to ask someone to prove they are who they say they are when it comes time to cast a ballot, and really, who in the hell does not have ID anyway?

[dps]

Having ID is pretty much required for taking part in modern society in so many ways beyond just voting, I don't see why this is such a big deal.

That is actually why it is a pretty clever move on the part of the Republicans. At first glance, it seems like such a perfectly reasonable position to take - after all, it doesn't seem all that onerous to ask someone to prove they are who they say they are when it comes time to cast a ballot, and really, who in the hell does not have ID anyway?

My experience has been that while urban residents are much more likely to not drive, and therefore not have driver's licenses, they mostly do have state-issued non-driver's IDs.

If you really want to cut down on voting fraud via IDs, don't require them to vote--require them to register to vote.

[grumbler]

There are more problems with fraudulent absentee balloting than voter impersonation:  it just doesn't happen.

I read somewhere last week that there had only been a handful of voter impersonation charges in all the elections so far conducted in the US.  The ID thing is a solution in search of a problem.  The absentee ballot fraud issue is real, though; there have been documented cases of partisan election officials destroying thousands of absentee ballots.

[grumbler]

*yawn*

Your position is that the Republicans want a Voter ID to prevent masses of Democrat voters from casting ballots. Your strawmen is that the Republicans are backdooring the Democrats by creating a system that unfairly targets urban aka inner city people who usually vote largely for Democrats. You attempt to prop up this strawman with a fairy tale about the lack of proper ID that urban aka inner city people as compared to suburban dwellers.  You than reinforce the strawman with a fallacy about people without licenses being unable to get to the DMV (or similar place) because they don't drive.

  You should probably find out what a strawman argument is before you use the term again. 

[katmai]

Having ID is pretty much required for taking part in modern society in so many ways beyond just voting, I don't see why this is such a big deal.

That is actually why it is a pretty clever move on the part of the Republicans. At first glance, it seems like such a perfectly reasonable position to take - after all, it doesn't seem all that onerous to ask someone to prove they are who they say they are when it comes time to cast a ballot, and really, who in the hell does not have ID anyway?

My experience has been that while urban residents are much more likely to not drive, and therefore not have driver's licenses, they mostly do have state-issued non-driver's IDs.

If you really want to cut down on voting fraud via IDs, don't require them to vote--require them to register to vote.

For Alaska you need one of the following to register.

If you are not already registered to vote in Alaska and you are initially registering to vote by mail, fax or email, please submit a copy of one of the below types of identification with your voter registration application:

current and valid photo identification;
driver's license;
passport;
state identification card; or
birth certificate.

[Sheilbh]

I seriously admire the American take on this (and the British one, altough IIRC they do have voter cards?)

You don't need your polling card to vote though. There's almost no incidences of voter fraud. The one's that have come up in recent years have been through postal voting/absentee ballots.

My view is simple, if you have compulsory ID laws this is fine. If not, then it's not. Right now I've no valid ID.

Aside from that I agree with Berk and think it's a disgrace.