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Subscribe to RSSFrom a continuing series of articles, Who Can Vote?, a News21 investigation of voting rights in America. Read the previous article, That student ID may not get you into the voting booth.
Jeremy Knop/News21
Disabled voter parking signs are stored inside the Maricopa County Elections Department warehouse in Phoenix, Ariz. At a time when 37 states have considered photo ID legislation, some disabled and elderly Americans may face difficulty voting this November because they often don't have a valid driver's license. The result is that voter turnout among these groups probably will decrease, according to Rutgers University research.
By Emily Nohr and Alissa Skelton
News21
Sami McGinnis remembers walking into a polling place and casting her vote for the first time.
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Discuss this series of stories on the Facebook page for Open Channel, the NBC News investigative blog. |
“It was a wonderful feeling to have that freedom,” she said.
McGinnis, 67, whose vision is impaired, gave up that freedom eight years ago after her husband died. That’s when she first voted by absentee ballot. Having no family near her Mesa, Ariz., residence, she found it difficult arranging transportation — especially on Election Day.
She wishes it were possible for her to physically vote inside a polling place because she questions whether her absentee ballot is counted.
“It’s better than nothing,” she said, “but live my experience and tell me it’s better than nothing. It’s not the same.”
One in nine voting-age Americans is disabled, according to Census data. Of the 17 percent of voting-age Americans who are 65 years or older, at least 36 percent are disabled.
At a time when 37 states have considered photo ID legislation, some disabled and elderly Americans may face difficulty voting this November because they often don’t have a valid driver’s license. The result is that voter turnout among these groups probably will decrease, according to Rutgers University research.
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Who can vote? A national News21 investigation of voting rights in America. |
“Voting is a big deal. It’s a big highlight of their years,” said Daniel Kohrman, a senior attorney for AARP, formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons, in Washington, D.C.
“It’s really unfortunate, and indeed tragic, that this emphasis on restricting participation is presented in so many states,” Kohrman added.
News21 is a program of the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation that is helping to change the way journalism is taught in the U.S. and train a new generation of journalists capable of reshaping the news industry. It is headquartered at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. Since 2006, nearly 500 top journalism students in the U.S. have participated in the landmark national initiative.
Eighteen percent of Americans over 65 do not have a photo ID, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, a public policy group that opposed many of the voting rule changes nationally. The Census estimates at least 7 million seniors don’t have driver’s licenses.
Many people with disabilities also don’t have a driver’s license. Beyond physical disabilities, persons can have learning disabilities — dyslexia for example — or poor hand-eye coordination.
“They’ve stopped driving because of vision or reflex issues. They, for reasons of various disability issues, have moved in with family who drive them around, or they’ve moved into an assisted living center,” said Jim Dickson, leader of the Disability Vote Project. The nonpartisan project of the American Association of People with Disabilities, a Washington, D.C., group that encourages political participation by those with disabilities.
AARP has opposed voter ID legislation in Missouri, Michigan, Indiana and Minnesota because the organization says “states should not impose unreasonable identification requirements that discourage or prevent citizens from voting.”
Voter ID requirements aren’t the only problem disabled and elderly people may face at the polls. People in these groups often have trouble accessing traditional polling places.
All polls are supposed to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Among other things, the sweeping law says that people with disabilities shall not face discrimination at the polls. But, just under one-third of polling places are 100 percent barrier free, according to a 2009 Government Accountability Office study of the 2008 election.
Many states skirt the accessibility to polls by allowing absentee voting, mail voting or voting from curbsides, where a poll worker comes to a disabled person’s car with a ballot.
All states allow absentee and mail voting, but not all — Tennessee, for example — allow curbside voting.
“People with disabilities should have the same options as everyone else has. Voting in a polling places is an important and symbolic ritual,” said Lisa Schur, a Rutgers University associate professor who researches disabilities issues in employment and the ADA impact on public policy.
Leaving the disabled with only alternative voting methods “sends a clear message that people with disabilities are not fully welcome in the political sphere,” she said.
The convenience of absentee voting is appealing to Karin Kellas of Glendale, Ariz. She suffered a spinal cord injury as a result of a rollover car accident in 1966. In the ’90s, her legs were amputated above the knee.
“I’ve heard a lot of people feel their voice doesn’t count,” she said. “We need to make our opinions known and vote because that’s how we make any kind of change.”
Kellas votes absentee so she can skip the lines and volunteer to work the polls. If she wanted to vote in a traditional polling place, she’d find a way to get there as she did in the past.
She wants voting to be “as easy and accessible for able-bodied people as it is for disabled people.”
“I’m the exception to the rule because I don’t take no for an answer,” Kellas said. “There has to be a way I can vote.”
Inaccessible polling places can have “psychological consequences that say, ‘I don’t really want you here,’” Schur said.
“I see absentee voting and voting by mail as a convenience and it can help a lot of people with disabilities,” she said, “but I don’t see it as a substitute as making polling places accessible.”
Voter turnout among disabled people is a clear reflection of that, according to a Rutgers University study from the 2008 election.
The study showed turnout among voters who have disabilities was about 7 percentage points lower than those without disabilities.
And that’s not because disabled people are less interested in voting, said Douglas Kruse, a Rutgers University professor and director of the doctoral program in industrial relations and human resources. He and Schur co-authored the study.
Kruse, who uses a wheelchair, has a doctorate in economics from Harvard University. His research has found that disabled persons are less likely to be recruited to vote or participate in political activities.
“You’re not expected to participate,” he said, adding that such an attitude “probably reflects a lot of the polling place difficulties and the message that is sent by a polling place.”
It’s important for persons with disabilities to vote because political and social issues deeply affect them, McGinnis said.
“We take the time to get to know the issues because we live them,” she said.
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Leave a Comment:
I'm not so sure I would represent efforts to restrict participation at the ballot box to U.S. citizens as "unfortunate and tragic."
Are you serious? The vote is the only voice we, the common people, have. We don't have high-priced lobbyists, control cash-infused corporations or have the resources to control the messaging. Voting is all we have! There is no voter fraud of any consequence. Voter ID is fine but don't make it an obstacle that is very hard for the poor and elderly to overcome. The only way for the Republican party to win this election is to keep a certain demographic from voting.
This so called news organization has put out at least THREE articles, very recently, about three different groups of people, who they say will have a hard time voting because they have to show ID...
Fell free to click each name to see the propaganda...err articles.
1. SENIORS
2. COLLEGE STUDENTS
3. LATINOS
Imagine that.... I say they have an AGENDA and are NOT reporting news.
and guess what...today all three articles are at the TOP of the headlines lingering for no reason.
Dear NBC... print the news and stop the propaganda. This is why this network has a the worst rating in television. As for NEWS21, what a total joke.
this whole article, and it's sister articles are all CRAP.
CORRECTION:correct link to the LATINO propaganda
LATINOS
Shosyn;
YES, amazin ain't it when it comes time to push for latino votes we read about the handi-capped BUT mostly the latino's BUT you know NBC owns telemundo tv stations and look to increase the number of hispanics into the country so they can increase their market share NBC / Telemundo news can't be trusted to report without bias in favor and propganda for the conquistadors..
More lies and Rhetoric from the party of to lazy to work.
Your inciting name says it all...
So... Teaparty Low IQ.... want to come try and take my gun away? Want me to GIVE you money you did not earn? Do you want me to give my land and nation to people who are not citizens and did not help build this nation just because where they live it blows doggy doo doo?
The liberals... gimme gimme gimme...
You know what... there is a big problem with spreading the wealth....all the people with it leave and you have nothing to spread around... welcome to the america YOU created.
The moneys long gone to the Asian Pacific rim and is now relocating to South America... you better get back down to Colombia and help them out bro and save the rain forest. Because all the handouts have moved away. Better jet down to South America and get your hand outs... because thats where to money is now and moving too as we speak... the Asian Pacific Rims is almost raped and over and about to collapse... just like Europe...
Maybe better yet you could move to Greece and see first hand what socialism does....
Who is suppressing anyone's right to vote? No one. While I'm sure there will be exceptions to this, I would think that the vast majority of elderly/disabled people in this country have some form of Legal ID. If not, how did they apply for SSI or SS? How do they cash a check? None of the so called 1-9 Americans gets on plane or has a passport? None of them served in the military?
Most towns around my area have a Council on Aging that helps local seniors and the handicapped get around by providing them with transportation by bus/van to doctor appts./shopping etc. I'm sure that a trip could be organized for any without transportation to be escorted to the town hall or DMV to get their ID.
If I thought for a moment that the vast majority of voters w/o ID were elderly/handicapped I'd agree that it was some form of discrimination against that group. But somehow I truly doubt that fact is true. My guess is that most of those w/o ID would be those hiding under the radar. Criminals, deadbeat parents, those running away from a former life, and certainly Illegals.
Unbelievable to what lengths the repub/tparty funders have gone to win this election. They've planned for a couple years to slide in the vote I.D., through ALEC - the Big Money funders toy. I've heard from too many repub/tparty that "you need an ID to get a charge card, open a savings acct., etc. Yes, that's right. To buy alcohol, cigarettes, even to visit a doctor, you need 'papers.' But, I've scoured the Constitution, read and reread the Amendments and the Bill of Rights and nowhere was there mention of needing a photo ID to vote, not in any of those docs.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 follows the 15th Amendment, "the 15th Amendment, the Act prohibits states from imposing any "voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure ... to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color." Still no mention of voter photo I.D.
It appears the repub/tparty legal staff had to work overtime to come up with this photo voter I.D. requirement, and a dozen reasons for implementation. Any reasonable person can see through their ruse - to limit the votes of those leaning toward Prez Obama. Would it surprise anyone here to learn that this ploy was in the works since Prez Obama was elected? You think McConnell pulled his 'one-term' out of the air? Ha!
There wasn't much noise from the populace when the republicans 'stole' the 2000 and 2004 elections, for 2008 they were ready for the big prize. The republicans thought the 2008 election was in the bag. After all, who would vote for a Black man. Their plans for a complete takeover to make us a United States of Corporations, a military might, was put on hold and their sleaze work began. The rise of a Tea Party took hold, the 2010 election of bought and paid nudnicks was in; they were told, always "NO."
Well, we've seen them in action. Blast the Unions - a middle class, working people stronghold; show teachers and public service employees as leeches taking taxpayer money with little work; throw the poor and disabled to the lions as lazy, shiftless, unworthy - dregs on society; pity the sick - their illness is their own. And welfare? Not on the taxpayer dime - let the children go hungry if their parent can't care for them - who cares. And a number of pages can be written on their focus on women's health, their primary interest on our reproductive system. Why? Is it a turn on? Since when is jour sexuality a government issue? Whose business is it? NO. The bottom line is CHOICE, always CHOICE each person makes for themselves.
If a repub/tparty gets in the White House we will be a country in turmoil, sitting on the edge, waiting for war with Iran? Pakistan? North Korea? We will have higher unemployment with little or no safety net, leading to increased crime. Health care? Only for Congress. Senior citizens will have a couple years until the repub/tparty "reforms" it, then they'll go after Social Security. That's why the call the two programs we have contributed to over these years 'entitlements.' A brainwashing, as the govt. is only in trust with the funds we contributed, not a handout from the govt. This election is too important for our country, our people. Call your local party office where to go. Get people registered. Volunteer wherever. Do what you can, contribute your time or money. Every little bit helps. WE need Prez Obama to continue with the economic upswing we're on. Our stock market is on a definite high, companies are making money - now WE need to get them to invest in JOBS in our country.
Earthgirl,
I think I'm in love. You covered every point that I feel and think. Republicans rely on hate, fear, and misinformation, knowing that if it is said often enough the weak minded...who the Republicans don't care about by the way...will believe it. And they do ! As some of the posts here indicate. For those who say it's no big deal, just go get a non drivers license ID...seriously ? The elderly and the disabled...and the poor for that matter...are intimidated by the bureaucracy involved. Yes, they could manage, but the Repubs know many will just slump their shoulders and give up. And they are indeed wanting to make this country under the thumb of corporate interests and the rich few. If you are a Republican, and you make less than $100K a year, here is a news flash....your party does not care about you past how easily you can be manipulated on a gut level. And getting you to bypass your brain and think with your emotions is what these elephants are best at. Repeat....they don't care about YOU.
I would like Jasmine to know that my mother has a mind as clear as a bell; she can recall telephone numbers I cannot begin to remember. She watches the news and has opinions on the candidates. She does not have government-issued photo ID because she did not renew her drivers' license this year after a bout with pneumonia which left her using a walker. As she fully recovers, she is using oxygen. She can't walk long distances, so she needs a wheel chair for going into places like a school gymnasium to vote. For the above reasons she needs a special bus for transportation; volunteer drivers won't do. She has used them but she finds these inconvenient because they are closely scheduled and it takes her a long time to get ready because of shortness of breath on exertion. I am just saying that it will be a real hassle for her to vote this time. Not like you and me who could just hop into our cars or call a friend to get us to the place to get a new ID. Voter ID laws would surpress people like her. This is one example, but I am sure there are many, many more such stories. Like hourly-employed people who could lose their jobs standing in long DMV lines to get alternate IDs. It is just not as simple as Jasmine thinks.
Unfortunately the new voter ID laws enacted by GOP legislators IS restricting US citizens from voting, and, it's targeted at the population who tend to vote the DEM ticket...
It's sad that the GOP, the Koch Bros., Rove, Adelson and of course the wealthiest 1% of our country know the only way to put Beavis and Butthead into the whitehouse is through voter supression... Their policies stink and they know it!
We're on to you and our ground force is helping those, who have become disenfranchised through voter supression tactics, obtain the necessary ID required.
GOP you're going down big in November... VOTE STRAIGHT DEM TICKET... GO OBAMA AND TEAM!
What make you believe that voter ID target Democrat voters. Republican and Democrats voters have the same difficulty to get their IDs. How can you assume because someone is poor must be Democrat. Liberals say are oppose to profiling but they are grotesquely profiling the poor, Latinos , blacks , gays , assuming they are Democrat voters , this is arrogant. However something is true, Democrats wants African Americans " in chains", Democrats want felons to vote, Democrats support illegal immigration to get the Latino Vote, Obama flip flop "evolve " his view about gay union to get the GLBT vote, not requirement of voter ID make easier to commit fraud.
oskar---I want nonviolent felons to be citizens with full rights other wise what's the point of "going straight"?
We have prison over crowding because so many non violent people were arrested under mandatory sentencing laws. I find it appalling that so many prisoner releases to decrease overcrowding includes very violent offenders.
If you commit a crime be responsible but once you have paid you should not have to pay forever.
As for this voting issue---it is predicated on the idea that illegals all run to the polls and vote illegally. There is no proof of this and wasn't it in FLA that a decorated elderly war vet had his voting rights revoked because some fool thought he wasn't good enough? He'd only fought in 2 wars and been voting for 60 years----This is a witch hunt designed to increase fear and who does that?
Every registered voter needs to go to the polls on election day. Even if all you can cast is a provisional ballot, you need to get out and do it. Then we must count on the ACLU to back an effort to disqualify the election on the grounds of so many being disenfranchised. I personally feel that here in Pennsylvania those people should then be granted tax relief by the state. They are refused the right to vote so they can not be taxed.
Shosyn- are you Native American? If not should you be refused the right to vote because your ancestors came here looking for a better life? Not all hispanics are illegal. However, many white voters families came here without papers in their past. Are we looking into their backgrounds and refusing them the right to vote.
For you young ones who think you need ID for everything...I haven't been carded in years. I'm old enough to get into the R movies without showing ID. I can buy alcohol and cigarettes without being asked for an ID. I have had my bank account since college and I swipe my ATM card to cash a check-no picture ID. Once I am old enough to have to give up my license, I will no longer have a form of picture ID. Since many of these laws require expiration dates on the ID, even a senior who did military service does not have the required picture ID....it would be expired by now. When you look at that list of voters who are being discriminated against remember this....You may not be hispanic but you could become disabled someday AND YOU WILL BECOME A SENIOR. How will you feel when you are on the list of disenfranchised?
States requiring voter picture ID's should have to provide them free to qualified citizens, provide an office in each city ot town for citizens to apply and provide in home or transportation or other assistance to the elderly and disabled to obtain ID's. Then the states would not be denying access to qualified citizens. If a state wants to verify voters this way, they should bear the cost, not pass it on to the poor, disabled and elderly. Other wise they are impeding citizen rights.
States that require ID DO provide them to the elderly and poor free of charge, and if you are not a driver, a state ID costs a minimum amount.... approx. $7.00 for 5 yrs. I know because I was without my license for 2 yrs due to a medical condition for 2 yrs. and had a state ID instead for ID purposes.
There's no way someone can't afford that or someone who cashes disability checks, or does business with a bank of any kind hasn't had a need to prove their identity. It 's all a bunch of hogwash that this is an impediment to their vote.
Dead People, Illegals and convicted Felons cant vote if the need to show an ID. ID Vote got plenty of time till Nov. to save up for one and arrange transportation.
@Teaparty... Wrong! The Dems keep saying it is suppressing the Democratic vote. I call BS. Do you really think that most of the elderly are going to vote Democratic? NO and asIseeit12 mentioned, you can get ID for a low cost or even no cost - it is called a State ID. It's an excuse, an excuse for the liberal agenda to ensure there actually is voter fraud with the allowance of illegals to vote.
They ONLY group that can not get valid, legitimate ID is an illegal, but our President decided to say It is okay your parents broke the law, we are going to look the other way while you stay and meet "fake" criteria which can be confirmed due to the FACT they are undocumented. They can't PROVE when they arrived and someone close to 30 who may be 33, 34 or older is UNDOCUMENTED and can't prove age. So we have a President allowing LAW BREAKING all for the sake of personal political gain (he certainly is not going to curtail illegals voting).
EXCUSES and LIES!
Voter ID costs should be right up there in importance with the ability to get a tatoo, cigarettes, beer etc. When something is important to a person, it seems that they are able to find the money to obtain it. The cost of an ID is either free or very minimal, and if it protects the vote, wonderful!
jes, Less then a pack of smokes and a twelver of beer in Wis.
Of course you still have to pay for the supporting documentation to get that ID. Last time I needed to get a copy of my birth certificate it cost me $30, and they wanted me to come in personally to pick it up.
And show them a photo ID. Fortunately I already had one, but I didn't, how was I supposed to get a photo ID without a birth certificate?
Can you say Catch 22?
Just for grins I called our court house and asked If I never had a drivers license or an ID could there be a way that I still could get a copy of birth certificate? Answer was yes and explained what I would need to bring and what to do. Whole process would take about ten minutes and cost would be twenty five dollars, two dollars extra for multiple copies. Her advise would be call ahead first. She did state that there have been some come in under same circumstance and got a copy. She also stated that to date they have yet to deny. She also stated that if you never had a filed birth certificate ie. home birth many years ago, one still can get a birth certificate. Advise again was to call ahead. Plus there is one day a week whereas they are "open" later. Wasnt to tough and available.
My problem is that I was born in Indiana and live in Colorado. Was told over the phone that I had to appear personally to get it. Fortunately I had already planned a visit to my family, so I just waited a month until I could make the trip.
I live in podunk Wyoming. We have no public transportation and we have no taxi service. The closest place to get an ID is 40 miles away.
I suppose some of you would have our elderly residents hitch hike?
It can easily be a hardship but so many of you live in large urban cesspools and are not capable of understanding that.
Yes, we are so dumb here we live in a low crime and largely unpolluted area in towns without traffic lights. We CAN safely leave doors and cars unlocked----The biggest criminals we encounter are oil barons and the like raping the land at the behest of our big Dick Cheney. (it does shame me to know that particular criminal hails from such a beautiful state)
To As I See it: The cost can be $5 or $100, it does not matter. A poll tax is a poll tax no matter how you hide it. The constitution forbids a poll tax. The states must now give these ID's for free or they are violating the constitution. Pennsylvania actually has a little publicized way around this. If you tell the license center you want the ID for voting they have to give it to you for free. Forget to tell them and you have to pay the $13.50.
Whoever is RESPONSIBLE for this corruption, needs immediate exposure, so the ones that can vote can exclude them from election! TELL US WHO THEY ARE, that caused this REVOLTING DILLEMA !
Got an ID? Ever use it?
Are you serious? Anyone can get a VALID ID(not a driver's license) from your Motor Vehicle office...and it is accepted for voting. Instead of screaming about the requirement, people should get transporation for the disabled to get not only to the office to obtain the ID, but get them to the poling places. As for the "poor blacks" and illegal aliens, they had to show ID to get their welfare payments and food stamps, they can show ID to vote.
I am "elderly," and while not officially disabled, it is painful for me to get around, so I empathize with those whose circumstances are even worse. For all that, I simply don't buy into the idea that one party is behind an effort to restrict the access to the polls of certain constituencies who usually vote for the other party. I don't buy it simply because I live in the bluest of blue states, where you can count the Republicans (I'm not one) on the fingers of one hand, AND I HAVE TO SHOW PICTURE ID TO VOTE. That law was put in place by, guess who, the majority, i.e., the Democratic Party. (That's democracy, baby.) I agree with the practice. It is a simple and reasonable safeguard of my right to vote. Without proper ID anyone could show up at my polling place, claim to be me, vote as me, and there would go my right to vote. How would you like it if you tried to vote and were told that you already had? Everyone should support reasonable measures to prevent "voting irregularities" and requiring voters to present picture ID at the polling place is reasonable.
Meanwhile, I acknowledge that certain constituencies may have more problems with that requirement than others. The answer, in my mind is not to do away with reasonable regulation (look what happened on Wall Street when we did that) but to find ways to assist the affected constituencies to meet the requirement. There are already programs in place across the country to assist the elderly and disabled with voting on election day. Such programs could be extended to assistance in acquiring picture ID. Indeed, the laws requiring picture ID should include a requirement on local governments to establish programs which assist those who want them with getting the requisite ID.
What is unreasonable? All this hyperventilation and hyperbole about "Papers please." We need honest elections (and yes, I know, honest candidates). We don't further the former need by opening the process up to fraud.
As I wrote above, I live in a blue state; we have picture ID requirements. Why is that OK here, but a Republican plot against minorities in red states?
deplorable spin by MSNBC yet again.....
Both sides claim voter fraud....and here we can clean it up....and you claim hurdles for disabled and seniors......shameful. Absentee ballots still work fine. and the plaintiff who brought on this case.....lost...went the next day got her ID with no fees. Whats the problem.....boring day in news media perhaps. You are shameful MSNBC...
NBC makes my stomach turn.
Funny that absentee ballots were shown to be the place where voter fraud most often occurs but the laws regulate the polling places.
what is shameful that you do not cover....in Phila....Black Panthers say Kill white cracker babies, video evidence of turning away white voters......and our Attorney General states....." This is not really oppression"
But people who can vote four or five times in districts with no ID, no registration, nothing and thats fine as long as it aides your side of the election.....Hmmmmmm
Cry me a river.
It's really terrible if we make people prove who they are before they vote.
Sarcasm or idiocy????
The intent behind the voter ID requirement is "evil," bottom line! If voter fraud was really that big of an issue, why not go after the individuals who are guilty of that?!! To say that voting fraud exists, there has to be evidence to support that!
This proposed law amounts to throwing the baby out with the dirty bath water, if we are to believe the claims! In any case scenario, the people being victimized by the implementation of this bogus law, are not the perpetrators of the so-called fraud - No, this new rule is more about reducing the numbers of those who would more than likely vote for Democrats! What a sleazy Republican tactic!!
Wrong wrong - see my comment above, but NEWS flash here - The majority of your elderly are not going to vote DEMOCRAT! How about Obama having a personal gain agenda in the sense that now illegals can stay and as undocumented they can't PROVE the criteria they are being asked to, but hey still stay and sneak in and vote all with the President approving - WHY? It is to his benefit!
You are saying that the republicans are more willing, resourceful, and intelligent to obtain voter ID. They consider their vote to be important enough to plan ahead and get that ID. If that is the case, then the republicans deserve to win elections. You are criticizing those of the dem party. Victims!?! You can only be victim if you allow it! Complaining about voter ID laws is being whiny!
i have a solution for all the disabled and seniors who are having a hard time with this...ask a disabled or senior republican how they do it, because they don't seem to having the same problem.
People go on and on about this "issue". If you don't have an ID, you've had months and months to get one. I drove both my kids to DOT to get one (they both got driver's licneses in their 20s, and needed a real ID for many things). No family to drive? No senior center? No AARP? Stop whining and go get a stinking ID card!! This is certainly less of a "hardship" than getting an absentee ballot.
This is as preposterous as claiming those old folks in Boca Raton Florida were too confused punching a hole next to a name on a ballot. If you are that far gone, maybe you should no longer have a hand in deciding how the country is run.
In Michigan if you don't have a drivers license you just take your birth certificate to a Secretary of State office and they will give you a picture ID. I think that most other states would do that also. I am 54 years old and am sure I will loose my license someday. You just need to plan ahead a get your ID card a few weeks before the election.
Same in Wis. In Wis if you previously had a drivers license you don't need to bring in Birth Cirt.
Obama must really need the illegals, Dream Party vote!
Oh good gad! Another day, another voter ID sob story. I'm sick to death of this nonsense. We need ID to do just about everything in life. If some one is too stupid, lazy, incompetent or unresourceful enough to fail to obtain ID in time to vote in November, they must not want it very bad. Yeeeesh.
iamfree, that's what I don't understand. How do you go through life in todays world without some form of ID? You need one to cash a check, or apply for a bank account. If you are stopped by a cop you need to show a license while driving. You need one to get on a plane.
While there are certainly housebound seniors in our country, who takes care of their food shopping, or their trips to the doctors or pharmacy? I would be willing to bet that at least 95% of those housebound folks have some outside help. A family member, a neighbor, someone.
This is just another excuse to not do what should have been done all along. You need an ID to do most everything else in this country. I see nothing wrong with needing to show my ID at the polls.
My former mother-in-law worked with the election board locally until she no longer could (she passed at 104 in 2010); she LOVED doing it! I can remember when there was organization and PRIDE in voting (period). The fact that politics (as we now know it) would include this kind of disenfranchisement for any of THE PEOPLE makes the delusion match the rhetoric - when she would work the election there were rides provided for shut-in Americans and parties made sure their people got to the polls to vote. Now all you get is secret legislation to hijack the process!
Again - as previously stated (to other articles of this nature) persons who are functioning in the REAL world get (as you need it for everything unless you are a recluse) ID. I could have misspoke when it comes to the elderly - as we live in a Nation/Culture that devalues them more so then they HATE BLACKS (yep, I said it - it's not like it's not clear through the rhetoric etc.!), but I understand that the GOP etc. also degrades WOMEN, ELDERLY, DISABLED etc. alike - so DON'T GO TRIPPING!!!
Get some ID & VOTE LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT!!!! Check in on your elderly, disabled & disenfranchised - make sure they can vote if they choose.
i see my great grandmother all the time and guess what she put a little effort into it and went out with help to get a photo id. she was 97 so donot tell me they can not get one.
Obama and his AG allow Black Panthers to carry night sticks in front of polling places, but do not like voter ID. Really?
As per normal the Tea Party terrorists are calling names and ignoring the fact that there is nearly zero problem with voter fraud. The point of these Republican unconstitutional restraints is to kill the vote for those who normally vote Democratic. I was wondering what the Tea Party Terrorists who run Florida would come up with for this election. In 2000 the governor, brother to the GOP presidential candidate, sent the state police to set up road blocks in black areas to make it difficult for people to get to the polling places in time to vote. It was enough to get his brother the state. Next time maybe they will just be able to send the KKK, NRA, Aryan Nations and Skinheads out to terrorize people on the roads. They never give up fighting dirty.
Occam, why would this kill the vote for those people? WHY don't they have ID? That's the question. Regardless of race/nationality, how do they go through life without an ID?
You say there is NEARLY zero problem with voter fraud. Why not go for NO fraud? What is the problem with proving that you are who you say you are?
Yeah, yeah yeah....no voter fraud??? Look at Indiana in the 2008 election. there are counties where the Dem's have been caught "red-handed" and several had to resign...Liberals not only make up fake issues but then ignore the reality of other issues...u guys are truly insane!
Occam, what planet to you live on? You don't have a problem with accusing the polls of being discriminatory against the handicapped because they have curbside voting for them? And then you think this is a Republican or Tea Party caused problem?
You lose voter confidence when reaching out with ficticious accusations like the ones in this ad. I personally believe this particular article did more damage to the democratic party than it did the republicans.
I am sorry but there is no reason a disabled or elderly person cannot get a voter ID. I know a lady 95 years old and disabled who votes every year. There are buses, cabs, relatives who can take them to get a ID. What do they do when they want to go to the bank. You have to have ID. What happens when they want to write a check at the store. This is just more political rhetoric =fostered by Obama and his ilk to stop voter ID so he can get more votes.
My Mother has no I. D hasnt driven in 30 years,is not able to leave her home to get one,not being able to vote has bought her to tears.
Denver Bill If your are not disabled then you might very well feel superior in your thinking, but to those of us whoare disabled we have to overcome many things that people of your thought process take for granted such as the ingress or egress of many public buildings, such as Post offices, Fereal building that are in rural areas, and the like which are raised above the side walk with only steps for access. I for one am 100% disabled having survived Terminal Cancer with daily reminders od this plus I have gout in both feet which at times I can not walk, let alone climb stairs to take care of my personal business as you do so easily from what you imply here. This issuse is just another ploy by those who are suppose to take care of the people not take away from themm as you seem to approve of doing, and many of these disabled are people who gave a lot or all for you to speak out this way as they fouhgt for your freedoms yet you feel they are undeserving of the same freedoms as you. I feel the shame you lack as you call yourself an American Citizen and a Patriot.
Try giving up some of your abilities and walk a mile in our shoes, and until then you may want to take a good look at self and see if you are really that crass as a human being.
so in other words you will not put the effort into doing this at all? i dont care if you are in a wheel chair or on a bed there is always a way to get one and most things you get you need one. dont use your disability as a crux. harsh but true! americans have become total whiners. if people like us populated america in the 1700's the indians would still own north america!
So what are you trying to say? We should annihilate the disabled or just put them on reservations? The inability of people to see how life may be for others is shocking. Yet you are not complaining that the republicans are trying to legislate religion which is against the first amendment. Of course not, restrictions to voting that violate several amendments are fine with you so why not just rip up the whole document.
we all know you troll for democrats but bringing up the lame excuse they use is rediculous. in america today photo id ia as american pie as the flag. whether you are in a wheel chair on a bed. the only people who cant vote are people who are illegally voting because there face and address do not match. evey time someone brings up any thing to fix problems like the debt they are always bring up the same sentance. as for the poor on welfare who just cant get the gumption to get up and get one. welfare was started for the poor but after 5 generations it has become poor by choice so let the money and food keep coming!
“People with disabilities should have the same options as everyone else has. Voting in a polling places is an important and symbolic ritual,” said Lisa Schur, a Rutgers University associate professor who researches disabilities issues in employment and the ADA impact on public policy.
I'm glad you've pointed out, Lisa, that voting is an "important and symbolic ritual." You've just denigrated your society to the status of "cult." Nice going.
I gotta call bs on the percentages of people with no ID. These numbers are inflated. Its all just politics. If you want to vote, then prove you are legally entitled to when you register.
Ben, people do prove it when they register and then use their voter registration card to vote ever after. Now, they need a picture ID that expires every four years in my state. The older you get the harder it is for rural residents to make the trip to the license center for a voter ID. IF they held a picture ID at the polling places in each neighborhood, the people who can get there to vote could get there to get the ID.
Voter suppression, my butt!!! I run nursing homes and even these people, who are unquestionably disabled, have ID. In fact, they have to to access their federal and state medical benefits. And there are plenty of ways for them to vote.
The only people whose voting rights are being hampered are the dead and the illegals: just the type of people (or corpses as it were) who push the Democrats over the top in tight elections.
States that mandate photo ID's usually make that documentation available fee at the DMV's. I've always considered it amazing these people have ID's for anything else they want to do however when it comes to voting, they all of a sudden don't want to cough up a valid ID and they start whining about how unfair this is. As far as quoting the AARP - that organization doesn't hold water anymore with anything they put out there - they're so in Obama's pocket it isn't even funny. I've worked at the polls many times and we have disabled people come in all the time and we're taught how to assist them. Plus our state makes sure that all places of voting are handicapped accessible. If you call your party affiliation in most places they will take you to the polls if you need a ride. So there's no reason to complain about voting - in most places they really make it easy for legitimate voters to come to the polls and cast their votes. I'm sick of the left lying about becoming "disenfranchised" - that's a lot of crap! Plus to this woman who wonders if her absentee ballot is counted. I work at a poll outside my voting precinct and must vote absentee too. I know when the absentee ballots come in at the precinct where I work they are handled with the utmost confidentiality and yes indeed they are counted. I don't know where the rest of you vote but sounds to me like a lot of states need to get on the ball training precinct workers.
We are not talking about things that have happened in the past. WE are talking about things that have been put inplace recently because the whiny republicans think they might lose and are trying as hard to win not with ideas, morals, values, what they stand for but by cheating. Well I was taught cheaters never win and winners never cheat. And you know what. When some people have mental issues I thnk it is because they know they have cheated. They make look like they have won but they can't hide from themselves. You cheat. You lose! Let people vote instead of trying to block them,. Ask for id. Create all kinds of lists. But don't do things you know will block the vote and win the state for Romney who apparently can't win on his own. I don't think he will win anyway. Give him a mike and let him self-destruct not once,not twice but nearly every time. I hope you aren't a yankee cause we hate yankees. His words in NH. In case he didn't know there are yankees there. Lots of them. And you know when I wanted to go to college I didn't have the money but silly me. I could have asked my parents. Who I guess should have asked theirs or somebody. Such an out of touch twit.
AARP the great LIBERAL PROPOGANDA MACHINE. They try to say their for seniors which a crock. They are a wing of the DNC.
I recently went to get new eye glasses. After checking in at the front desk, guess what the 1st thing was they asked for? A picture ID.
The week before, I had a doctor appointment...guess what they wanted at the front desk???? That's right, a picture ID! I used my debit card at Barnes and Noble...guess what the cashier asked for? A taco...NO!!! A picture id!
My 84 y.o. Mom has a...guess what...a picture i.d. and she hasn't driven for 5 years and needs help getting around but guess what? The apartment complex where she lives takes them on the activity bus to go where??? To vote and they asked her for her???? Her picture I.D.!!!!
This is the mindset of the democrat party - making everyone into a victim of the enigmatic GOP-Tea Party which feeds old people, the poor and the sick into a machine that turns them into coal to be burned for dirty air and water.
Well guess what my mother is 91 and doesnt have a picture id. And when I go the eye dr, dentist, regular dr. anyone they have NEVER asked for a picture id. I have a health insurance card that they ask for. No picture. So stop your made up fake phoney baloney. You have no right to add any requirement for voting. YOu know you guys love to tout the Constitution except of course with illegal search and seizure or anything else that you don't agree with but where in there does it say picture id? In fact it probably says everyone can vote with no additional requirement and let them all be counted a whole person. Cause you tried reducing their weight before. Diets work better. And it doesn't matter if you weigh 100 or200 or 500. You still get to vote without anyone blocking your vote! Don't come up with flimsy reasoning that doesn't amt to anything. And maybe you should check your party and their behavior before you start criticizing others. How many of you Christians will vote for a person who got into politics because of atheist Ayn RAnd. When you do that you lose all credibility with me. no real Christian would consider it when they have another choice who is a Christain. They just don't want to admit it because of their hateful thinking. I used to be a republican andI am appalled at what that party has become. It is amazing that the Democrats are now the party with the most values. And it is amazing when the republicans will go to any length they can to block votes when they all perfectly know that there is no evidence of voter fraud except maybe by them. When did you guys get so hateful? Were you always that way and I didnt notice. Well I notice now and I am ready to use the Bible against anything you haters say. But first I would suggest you read it.