Voter ID controversy

[Martinus]

Ok, so apparently some US states are now passing a law that you need to have an ID to vote.

And that's controversial. Because apparently the stupid and the lazy (who strangely enough in this case tend to vote Democrat) do not have an ID.

Martinus's most convoluted and elaborate solution: GET A FUCKING ID.

Is there something I'm missing here? 

[katmai]

Well since it is you, of course you are.

[Solmyr]

Didn't we have this topic some time ago already?

[Tamas]

So how can you vote without an ID?

I mean, how do they stop you from voting 586 times?

[Razgovory]

So how can you vote without an ID?

I mean, how do they stop you from voting 586 times?

Because you are only registered to vote in one place.  You show up at your polling place, and they find your name on the list.  You vote, and they scratch it off.  I took for granted that even you eastern Europeans could figure this shit out.  My mistake.

[Solmyr]

How do they stop you from saying someone else's name and voting for them too?

[Martinus]

So how can you vote without an ID?

I mean, how do they stop you from voting 586 times?

Because you are only registered to vote in one place.  You show up at your polling place, and they find your name on the list.  You vote, and they scratch it off.  I took for granted that even you eastern Europeans could figure this shit out.  My mistake.

You are a retard.

[Tamas]

How do they stop you from saying someone else's name and voting for them too?

this.

My East European mind is puzzled by this idea of trusting people.

[dps]

So how can you vote without an ID?

I mean, how do they stop you from voting 586 times?

You're on the voting roll at a particular polling place.  When you vote, it's recorded in some manner that you have already voted in the current election.

In theory, without an ID being required, you could come back in an vote using the name of some other voter on the roll who hadn't voted yet.  You might get by with voting 2 or 3 times, but any more than that the poll workers would likely recognize that you were there earlier.

In my hometown, it would have been really difficult for someone to vote multiple times like that.  Fayette county had a population of around 45,000 and had 88 voting precincts IIRC.  That's less than 500 voters per precinct (keep in mind that some of those 45,000 aren't going to be on the voting rolls--they're underage, non-citizens, people who just haven't bothered to register to vote, etc.).  The poll workers were mostly elderly ladies who had lived locally for ages and likely had known most of the voters the voters' whole lives.  Several poll workers would have had to conspire together to let me vote twice.  Even if you were new to the area and they didn't know you personally, they dealt with few enough voters in each polling place that they were likely to notice if you tried to vote again under a different name.

Here in North Carolina, I guess it would be easier.  In Wayne county, we have a population around 115,000 but only about a dozen voting precincts, so even with a relatively light turnout, the poll workers in each precinct are going to be dealing with over 4 figures in voters each election.

[Solmyr]

What about the large cities? Even here in Helsinki (population about 600k), there are thousands of voters per polling station, and there's no way the workers are going to remember by sight everyone who votes.

[Martinus]

In theory, without an ID being required, you could come back in an vote using the name of some other voter on the roll who hadn't voted yet.  You might get by with voting 2 or 3 times, but any more than that the poll workers would likely recognize that you were there earlier.

Err, what prevents you from going to a different place?

[Martinus]

What about the large cities? Even here in Helsinki (population about 600k), there are thousands of voters per polling station, and there's no way the workers are going to remember by sight everyone who votes.

And there are several dozens of polling stations. So you could vote in each of them.

I don't know, maybe it's our Eastern European heritage but talking to Americans about this is like talking to flatlanders. 

[Brazen]

You don't need ID to vote in the UK. You register to vote, a card gets sent to your address and you bring it along and confirm your address so they can cross you off the list. Several of my nearest and dearest do not have a driving licence and their passports have expired so they therefore have no ID nor any need of one.

[katmai]

In theory, without an ID being required, you could come back in an vote using the name of some other voter on the roll who hadn't voted yet.  You might get by with voting 2 or 3 times, but any more than that the poll workers would likely recognize that you were there earlier.

Err, what prevents you from going to a different place?

i can only speak from my experience of course but after living in 5 different states when I register to vote in that state I am given a local polling station based on my residence when registered.

When election comes around that polling station has print out of local registered voters and they check me off after seeing voter card and have me sign my name.


If I go to polling station not my own I'm given a provisional ballot to vote. They are suppose to verify that I'm not voting in multiple places but who knows

[Brazen]

Yeah, same here. When you register to vote, you can only go to one particular polling station close to home. If you won't be there, you can register in advance for a postal vote or nominate a proxy. The electoral roll is also used for council tax and credit rating.