It appeared that by Tuesday night the Texas version of a Voter I.D. bill would be dead on arrival as Democrats used one of their time- dishonored methods of blocking ANY legislation in order to force the I.D. bill to die an ugly legislative death.
Personally I fail to see that verification of who you claim to be is such a deal breaker when it comes to voting, especially as you can now get one of several types of I.D.s free, so it isn’t money that is the problem here.
Republicans say that having an I.D. tends to lessen any voting fraud, and I tend to agree, what with all the questions surrounding ACORN, you might think the Democrat Party might(since they hold themselves to be pure and chaste when it comes to the voting booth) just feel that this is an issue where they might be wrong, but apparently everything is ideological, and therefore it’s not possible to admit error.
While Republicans say that this ensures a truer accounting of the vote, Democrats contend that this somehow disenfranchises the poor and elderly.
Since 2002, Republicans have championed photo IDs as a means to prevent fraudulent voting. Under the laws, a voter must show government-issued identification — such as a driver’s license or a passport — to prove to poll workers that he or she is indeed the person registered to vote.
Democrats, however, have strongly opposed the requirement, saying it tends to discourage people who usually vote Democratic. Tens of thousands of poor, elderly, disabled, homeless or foreign-born citizens do not have valid photo ID cards, Democrats say.
An AARP survey, for example, found that 3% of elderly registered voters in Indiana did not have a current driver’s license. Even if these people had cast ballots in the past and remained eligible voters, Democrats argue, they might be dissuaded from voting next year because of the photo ID requirement. LA Times
Now, many states already have free I.D.s available- all one has to do is ask for it, and there would, I am sure, be an ACORN bus in front of their house in no time. Of course, ACORN might want a quid pro quo- might just want you to vote the way they see it, rather than the way you might want. That’s always the case in a deal with the devil- you are going to get burned.
This is why I see the voter I.D. law as necessary:
The GOP was most effective in pointing to problems when it came to registering new voters. Some liberal organizations sponsored drives to register prospective voters, and they paid collectors to gather signature cards. Later investigations found these groups repeatedly signed up people who were not eligible to vote. Some were not citizens, were not residents of the area or were felons who had lost their right to vote. LA Times
At least the Dems in the Texas legislature didn’t run like scared rabbits this time, as is their wont. This they have done twice, abdicating their desks in favor of self- imposed exile, while the clock ran out on the legislative session. Much like a child who believes that if he holds his hands in front of his eyes no one will see him, so these brave legislators” got rabbit in their blood, and ran-”
Okay, that last line I got from “Cool Hand Luke”, but the sentence still applies to these cowards who love nothing better than to hold the entire legislative process hostage while their inner child has a temper tantrum. Voter identification is necessary in a world where not much can be done if you do not have at least two forms of I.D.- a driver’s license and a credit card- it is time, indeed past time that we know who is who when it comes to a vote. I do not want any voters rising from the grave, a la Duval County, which ended up giving LBJ the Senate seat by 29 votes. There is just too much at stake these days to allow the perception of voter fraud to taint an already contentious divide.
It is too easy these days, with the help of a computer, to be anyone you wish to be. For the purposes of elections at least, let’s actually, provably be who we really are.
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