09 February, 2012

Why Is Bad Idea to Require An ID?

I received an email today from the ACLU which is asking for my support to stop the suppression of voter rights in Springfield. Illinois is looking at requiring an ID before you can vote, and the ACLU calls this an attempt to disenfranchise minority voters. Maybe I am just dense, but can some explain to me how and why it is unfair to minorities to require an ID? Last time I checked, you must have an ID to cash a check, yet I don't hear anyone screaming about this? Before you can get hired on to a job, you must produce an ID... again, no one is questioning this. But somehow, when it comes time to vote, it is unfair and disenfranchising to require an ID? To quote one of my favorite lines from "O Brother Where Art Thou?" ... "I don't get it Big Dan."

OK... first, here is their actual email (bold print is theirs as well):


Dear Darrell,
The right to vote is central to our democracy. Rather than working to protect and expand the right to vote, politicians in Springfield are considering legislation that suppresses the right to vote, and hurts low-income individuals, racial and ethnic minorities, senior citizens and voters with disabilities.
Take action: Tell your legislators to oppose repressive Voter ID requirements.


Voter ID laws, like House Bill 3903 and Senate Bill 2496 deny the right to vote to registered voters who do not have, and in many instances cannot obtain, photo identification required for voting. You may think that everyone owns a photo ID, but the reality is that millions of Americans — through no fault of their own — lack the narrow category of permissible IDs under the proposed legislation. These disfranchised voters include people who happened to move, were born at home and veterans who served this country.
The proposed legislation also disproportionately affects African-American citizens. More than 25% of voting age African-Americans do not have a government-issued photo-ID, compared with only 8% of whites. Elected officials should be seeking ways to encourage more Americans to vote, not inventing discriminatory pretexts to deny eligible voters a chance to cast their ballots.
(end)

So, I am at a bit of a loss. First, WHY would someone "through no fault of their own" not be able to obtain an ID? Are you telling me that it is possible to go down to the welfare office and sign up without an ID? Seriously? And I'd really like to know, just where did the ACLU come up with this statistic that 25% of  African American voters do not have an ID? Same with the whites?  Come on... did they pull these figures out of their backsides or what? Just how do you come up with these numbers?

So, why do we need to require an ID? Well, perhaps some have forgotten, but if you search the net you can find the story still, just before the 2008 election, ABC News (yes, the left wing slanted ABC network news) broke a news story on ACORN where in one district in Indiana, 5000 voter registrations were turned in to one office and literally, ALL 5000 of the registrations were proven to be causes of fraud where a worker fabricated every single registration. Many were dead. Many were infants. One that stands out in my mind was a voter sign up as Jimmy John. When they went to the address to verify the voter registration, it was Jimmy Johns restaurant. In this case, in one district, they were set up for 5000 fraudulent votes! Now you tell me... why is an ID necessary? Here in Illinois, voter fraud is a way of life... or at least it has been. I agree with the legislators in Springfield... it is high time for an ID requirement.

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