A picture I D is the best way to avoid voter fraud. It's a no brainier !!

Scare Tactic?
The only scare tackics I hear come from one side.............hysteria created to scare.

"They are taking away womens reproductive rights"
"They will Take away medicare for Seniors"
"They are not for the middle call they are for Big Oil"
"They will put you in Chains" Our VP
"You will get Cancer if you vote for him" the Mrs. said that.......

Not to mention the utilization of Black Pathers at polling places? and Eric Holder did not investigate, even with clear and compelling video tape.

I see the blind eye now..........

I understand the aggravation at being presented with facts you disagree with, Mel, but the truth remains - there is no voter fraud. When Pennsylvania went to argue their case as to why they should get to keep their ID Law, they did so without the ability to make the argument that it does happen.

"There have been no investigations or prosecutions of in-person voter fraud in Pennsylvania; and the parties do not have direct personal knowledge of any such investigations or prosecutions in other states...Respondents will not offer any evidence in this action that in-person voter fraud has in fact occurred in Pennsylvania or elsewhere."

You can read the actual court filing (I have not, they bore me) in handy PDF format here http://www.aclupa.org/downloads/ApplewhiteStipulation.pdf

It would make perfect sense if getting a photo ID were something simple and easy for everyone to get, but I've heard too many stories where it hasn't been.

For example, many senior citizens who have lived perfectly fine using other forms of ID may not have a birth certificate which weren’t always given out in the past. (Also, my mother in law’s birth certificate was in a building bombed during WWII.)

My US born mother was stressed by the new laws in her state regarding renewing her driver’s license, but at least she was able to get the documents eventually.

"People are caught in a Catch-22: You need a birth certificate to get this ID, but to get a birth certificate you have to have an ID,"

Mel -
Buying cold meds is NOT a right guaranteed by the constitution, nor is flying or banking. Voting is a constitutional right!

Second, as mentioned by many, there is NO PROOF of voter fraud being a problem requiring a solution, rather a way to cut down voting of seniors, minorities and youth. With the poor voting turnout presented in this country, we should be doing everything legal to increase voter turnout, not cutting it.

Rabbits are small and can be concealed in pockets and backpacks. You should be required to have a concealed rabbit permit.

It's for the children.

You absolutely shouldn't have been denied. If there's a systematic problem, or even only a few instances, of men and women in our military being denied the right to vote, then that's a problem that needs to be fixed ASAP.

But making additional restrictions for others to vote, especially when it's specifically targeted at demographics, is not the answer. Voting should be easier for everyone. Any additional hurdle is antithetical to what the US is supposed to stand for.

These voter ID laws are a solution to problem that doesn't exist. There are more "deaths by vending machine" in the US than instances of voter fraud. (http://current.com/shows/the-war-room/blog/chart-how-likely-is-voter-fraud-not-very)

You should have been given enough time; I would be interested in seeing what different lengths of time the military is given in different states.
I know that was one of the many issues here with the special election for McCotter's seat, that they had to get the absentee ballots ready out to the military in time.

I'm not sure where you think the lying is coming from. Offices where you can get a photo ID are only open for certain hours, generally business hours. They may or may not be in an area readily accessible by public transportation. You make it seem crazy that there could be a single instance of someone not being able to get or afford an ID. Your assuming that everyone is able to take time off in the middle of the day without losing their job, which is just not the case. You're assuming they have a car or other resources to get to the office for an ID. You're assuming they have someone to look after their kids while they make the trip. You're assuming they are mobile enough to get around and wait in line (i.e. seniors).

The truth is that studies show that as many as 11 percent of eligible voters do not have government-issued photo ID. That percentage is even higher for seniors, people of color, people with disabilities, low-income voters, and students. I'm not sure why you would think that these people are not honest.

And as far as talking about drugs and lottery tickets, I'm going to guess you're talking about food stamps. But there are very strict regulations on what you are able to buy with food stamps, and drugs and lottery tickets are definitely not covered. I would suggest you reexamine where you're getting your information. It seems as though the people you trust to give you the news are not being honest with you.

Alex nice try. In case you haven't noticed if You are a legal resident with a legal job You already had to have an photo ID to get that job.
Also can you spell EBT that is where the fraud is. That is where my tax money is wasted on fraud. Yes there are honest people who need welfare again key word honest. But it is the dishonest ones that we want to get rid of. Also anyone can walk in and say your name and address and vote since you dont want anyone to prove who they really are.

I am a legal resident with a legal job, and I didn't have to provide photo ID to get that job. That may be out of the ordinary, I really don't know. But clearly there is not a mandate that photo ID must be presented in order to get a job.

I can spell EBT, it's right there in the name. If you have links to statistics on fraud in the program, I'd be happy to look at them and consider them in my thinking. I'm open to new information. But where we've seen measures taken in other states around welfare recipients and drug use, the problem has proven to be far smaller than predicted, and ends up costing the state even more money than they save from preventing the small amounts of abuse in the system. (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/18/us/no-savings-found-in-florida-welfare-drug-tests.html)

The reason the type of voter fraud you're concerned about is a fictional problem is because of the risk and rewards associated with the crime. It's a federal offense to impersonate someone else at the polls. It's unreasonable for anyone to risk the prison sentence to get 1 additional vote for their candidate.

Over about the last decade, approximately 300 million votes were cast in the US. Over that period federal prosecutors convicted only 86 people for voter fraud – and many of the cases involved immigrants and former felons who were simply unaware of their ineligibility. In-person voter fraud is a nonexistent problem.

Once again nice try Alex you really should not try to pass off the lying liberal rag NYT as proof of anything.
No EBT fraud do you live in a cave just google EBT Fraud arrests in MA. But you wont because you don't want to admit that there is fraud for your liberal cause. Also here is the link to the I-9 document that tells an honest employer the requirements of photo ID for employment. http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-9.pdf

The idea that you consider the NYT a "lying liberal rag" is concerning enough. But here are a couple other sources:

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/04/20/2758871/floridas-welfare-drug-tests-cost.html
http://www.politifact.com/florida/promises/scott-o-meter/promise/600/require-drug-screening-for-welfare-recipients/

There are also sources from CNN, Atlanta Journal Constitution, USA Today, etc. Hopefully one of these is acceptable to you. If not, I'd like to hear what would be.

I didn't say there was no EBT fraud, and I did google it, and I saw just what you saw. But I'm not interested in isolated incidents, I'm concerned with the big picture and the extent to which fraud is prevalent. Any instance of fraud needs to be addressed, I'm with you there, as virtually all liberals are. But there isn't evidence that these instances make up a greater trend or that there is far reaching fraud. There's going to be attempts at fraud in any system, and actions should be taken to minimize them. But your concern is the cost of the fraud, and if the cost of the solution is greater than the cost of the fraud, then does it make sense to take that course to solve the problem?

And I read the I-9, thanks for that. And it does say some form of identification is required, you're definitely right there. But it also explicitly says it doesn't have to be a drivers license. It can be a voter reg card, a school ID, a military card or draft record, a military dependents card, etc.

You beat me to it Ouie, I was going to say to Alex that I would never want to hire her or him for legal advice since clearly they never heard of an I9 form

To be fair, I wouldn't hire me for legal advise either. I'm not a lawyer.

Ouie,
Don't stop with drugs, lottery tickets. Recently in MA it was reported millions spent using EBT cards to: gamble in Vegas, take vacations in Hawaii & Calif, cruises, out-of-town car rentals, plane tickets, spas, hair salons, manicures, tickets for Disneyland, pricey restaurants, etc etc etc. What did our governor do about it? Absolutely nothing.

I thought the cards were for vital necessities such as food, heat, etc. Evidently not.

Kind of a tough pill to swallow knowing my tax dollars are paying for lush vacations, new hair styles/nails and the like when I cannot afford these luxuries.

I hope the 2 or 3 strangers I'm supporting enjoyed their vacations. Maybe we should ask the governor to make these cheats at least post their vacation pictures on Facebook so I can see how my money was spent.

Being "poor" ain't what it used to be. Now many have: own house, A/C, nice new car, complete cable TV packages, high-speed internet access, iPADS, iPODS, cell phones, 60" HD TV, Blackberries, DVD players, more than one computer, etc.

I (& the bank) own my house but I don't have any of those other "toys" listed. I never get my hair/nails done, live primarily in jeans, T-shirts & sneakers/flip-flops depending on season. I almost never go to a restaurant & rarely get take-out. I don't go clubbing or to the movies. I am doing something wrong. I'm truely glad someone or two someone's are enjoying my [tax] money.

clearly you are not as smart as ACORN.

I'm not sure how ACORN fits into this conversation. There were a lot of inaccurate accusations made about what ACORN actually did. They were never charged or convicted of anything having to do with in-person voter fraud.

The accusations against them had to do with voter registration fraud. But in those cases, ACORN was the victim of the fraud, not the perpetrator, and were unfairly tarnished. They had people out on the streets (sometimes paid, sometimes volunteers) getting people registered to vote. Occasionally they'd end up getting a voter registration card filled out by someone claiming to be Mickey Mouse (or the person collecting the registrations would do something like that just to get paid).

ACORN did their best to flag those registration cards to the Boards of Elections when they handed them in. And they had to hand them in because it's illegal to throw out a filled in voter registration card.

But to come back to in-person voter fraud, even in the cases where Mickey Mouse was registered to vote, no one ever showed up at the polls claiming to be Mickey Mouse. The in-person voter fraud never happened.

Mike you just eliminated half the obama staff .............remember do as I say not as I do democrat

Mike,

The news keeps telling us approx 51% of the US population does not pay income taxes, many exempted because one has to earn above a specific amount before income taxes kick in. Are you seriously suggesting we wipe out 51% of the population from the right to vote?

As it now stands only two things separate legals from illegals: voting and jury duty.
The Constitution prohibits anyone who is not a citizen from voting.

By the way, what makes you think retired people do not pay income taxes? I'm assuming you are not of retirement age to make such a comment otherwise you're in for a big shock when you retire because retired people DO PAY TAXES. It depends on your total income, not your working status.

Your post is meant to be a joke, isn't it?

AMEN!!!!!