Recently, a gentleman from Apache Junction wrote “Keeping a Citizen from Polls,” a heartfelt note condemning the currently debated voter registration laws. Sir, the laws were not enacted to prevent your 88-year-old grandmother from voting, and I’m sorry that she can’t. It was enacted to keep the hoards of foreign nationals that hide within our borders from pushing their wills on the rest of us. As has been too often demonstrated by the marches and protests, these people seem to think that because they are here, they have the rights of those that belong here. Several states have given out IDs and driver’s licenses often enough in the past (and enough have been forged) to make them not viable for identification on their own. If the rules were not there, there would be a mad rush to the polls to impel the will of the illegals on the real citizens. I’m sorry your granny can’t vote but that is not the issue.
Cheryl Sonnenwald
Mesa
downtownresident posted at 1:36 pm on Sat, Sep 22, 2012.
Cheryl,
You need to quit drinking the Tea party kool-aid.
If you had bothered to do any independent thinking and research, you would have found that voter fraud IS NOT A PROBLEM in the USA.
This is a Republican ploy to disenfranchise many poor and under privileged people who, God forbid, might vote for that Black guy who sleeps in the White House.
That is the guy who will be president for the next 4 years, because the Mitt who would be King has no concept of reality as it relates to normal people.
You, too, are not in touch with reality.
chatmandu002 posted at 2:07 pm on Sat, Sep 22, 2012.
Cheryl,
Voting is a right, privilege and responsibility of citizenship. It is the voter's responsibility is to provide the required ID to vote. Personal responsibility is something the liberal/progressives find abhorrent.
onerebel posted at 8:24 pm on Sat, Sep 22, 2012.
Democrook Wendy Rosen dropped from her race against Republican Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) after it was discovered she had been voting in two states in recent elections – Maryland and Florida. With millions of people determined to get their candidate elected your going to try sell us the line" voter fraud IS NOT A PROBLEM in the USA." RIGHT! Just like there is no one trying to scam you on the computer either? I'm sure if you ask a arsonist if arson is a problem he'll say no too.
Trans posted at 10:54 pm on Sat, Sep 22, 2012.
Cheryl, you're awfully free with throwing away other people's vote. Would you be willing to give up YOUR vote in order to protect us from the threat of "foreigners" voting? I doubt it. Anyway, the only place that kind of voter fraud has ever been claimed is on Fox News. The real world knows it doesn't happen. The Republican party is trying desperately to hold on but time and tide are against them. There just aren't enough old, angry white men!
Arizona Willie posted at 10:28 am on Sun, Sep 23, 2012.
Trans, I'm an old Liberal white man. Been a Liberal with a capital L all my life.
But I believe we should have to prove our citizenship in order to register to vote.
We are the ONLY major nation that lets people vote on the " honor system ".
As I have pointed out time and time again ... no one knows how much voter fraud there is because it is ILLEGAL TO CHECK A VOTER REGISTRATION APPLICANTS CITIZENSHIP.!!
It is virtually impossible to get caught committing voter fraud.
1) they cannot check your citizenship when you register
2) they cannot check your citizenship when you vote
3) one you register you can vote by mail so you don't even have to risk going to the pollls
It is basically the perfect crime.
Think about it ... why wouldn't people who have entered the country illegally register and vote for politicians who say they will make it possible for them to stay here legally?
They know how easy it is to register.
They know they can't get caught
There is nothing but upside for an illegal alien to register and vote.
samkat posted at 2:29 pm on Sun, Sep 23, 2012.
DTR: In an age of electronics, how can you justify your statements that it is difficult for someone to obtain proof of citizenship? Since 1937, everyone has been issued a social security card and relatively few people can state that they do not have a birth certificate. Naturalized citizens have a certificate on file to prove they were granted citizenship status. native Americans even issue birth certificates and proof of tribal status. The very few people who have not been issued a driver's license can apply for a state issued ID card.
As for being out of touch with reality, what bubble do you live in? PS: my wife and I just renewed our military ID cards and had to provide two picture IDs. I had a medical procedure performed a couple of weeks ago and guess what? They asked for a picture ID in addition to my insurance cards.
fae4now posted at 11:40 pm on Sun, Sep 23, 2012.
BUT.....Samkat and Willie,
If you go back and re-read the original letter- photo ID was not the issue. The 88 year old woman had a Florida issued ID, Voter Registration and Social Security card but was denied voter registration because she lacked a birth certificate.
To listen to some people there are already thousands or millions currently voting fraudulently.
You and I didn't have to provide birth certs in order to register to vote so how do they know that we are not frauds?
If the proponents of the law were really concerned with cracking down on fraud they would require EVERYONE to re-register and provide the same degree of proof of eligibility that is being required of those newly registering.
To do any less solves nothing at all, in my opinion.
Arizona Willie posted at 9:13 am on Mon, Sep 24, 2012.
fae4now -- I agree EVERYONE should have to re-register and prove citzenship in order to do so.
The mimimum requirement to prove citizenship in ANY state would be a birth certificate or equivalent ( such as a form from an Indian Tribe ).
I would prefer to see a Federal ID with biometrics such as your eyball scan.
Federal ID's with biometric data would go a long way also toward preventing employment of illegal aliens.
You can put any SS number down on an employment application ... but biometric data can be scanned and ran through data bases in a matter of seconds.
A Federal ID card with biometric data would make employment fraud very very difficult if not impossible.
Arizona Willie posted at 9:22 am on Mon, Sep 24, 2012.
We take a census every 10 years to try to find out how many people are in the country.
We count.
We have been running " honor system " voting for a couple of hundred years. Who knows how many errors have crept into the system?
We know that dead people have been sent voting forms.
We know people's dog's have gotten voting registrations.
There is a very strong possibility of massive voter fraud among the illlegal alien population in support of candidates friendly to their cause.
Under the current law it is ILLEGAL to even check someone's citizenship when they register to vote.
So there is no possible way to determine if there is or is not significant voter fraud.
Would you keep your money in a bank that said " well the law says we can't count it so we don't know exactly how much you have on deposit " --- I don't think so.
Why should we ( possibly the most atttractive country to live in ) have " honor system " when we know the country is flooded with invaders who have no respect for our laws at all?
People who claim is is " too hard " or " too much trouble " to get proper Identification are just making excuses because we have to have the kind of identification to travel or open a bank account or even go to the doctor these days. You are required to show photo ID's every time you turn around. Claiming you don't have one prevents you from voting is hogwash.
Arizona Willie posted at 9:24 am on Mon, Sep 24, 2012.
Aaarrrggghhh, I hate this comment system. Editors please get a system that lets us fix our typos.
PLEASE
JNelson posted at 9:31 am on Mon, Sep 24, 2012.
Samkat.....another example: Last Friday I wanted to cash a personal check at the bank where I've had several accounts for a long time. Most of the people working there know me personally. Yet, the teller made me produce a picture ID before she would cash my own check even after verifying adequate funds on her computer! ! But, I'm supposed to be able to vote without producing proper ID according to the Left. What a country!
VofReason posted at 1:04 pm on Mon, Sep 24, 2012.
Stop the madness. For the time that the original writer took to write the editorial, he could have taken his mother to the MVD and got an AZ state license on the basis of the Florida license. This is classic false problem. Voter fruad or not, please explain why someone cannot get an ID when they need one for cashing checks, buying liquor, flying on planes, driving etc etc. Non issue, non story.
My Take posted at 11:44 am on Tue, Sep 25, 2012.
To the Letter: Why do we keep coming back to this issue? There have been no cases of wide spread voter fraud. It is a myth!
Understand this isn’t just about ID’s. Republicans are cherry picking districts that voted for Obama in 2008 and limiting voting hours and early voting.
All this talk of a fair election by Republicans is a crock. Republicans look the other way regarding the Citizens United ruling that allows undisclosed amounts of corporate donations from foreign national companies to influence our American elections.
So don’t hand us this garbage about voter fraud. Citizens United is the real threat to our democracy.
VofReason posted at 12:49 pm on Tue, Sep 25, 2012.
Outside of the Echo Chamber, I believe people understand that ACORN and other groups connected to the Democratic party have been trying to perpetrate voter fraud (and other fraud) as long as they have been in existance. Hmmm, who was it that was connected to ACORN that may get benefit from voter fraud? What about the video of the Black Panther party trying to intimidate people from going to polls? Or was that a right wing conspiracy also? Again, what is the big deal of having an ID that proves that you live in an area in order to vote at the proper polling place?
VofReason posted at 12:49 pm on Tue, Sep 25, 2012.
False argument
Bluepoet posted at 3:20 pm on Tue, Sep 25, 2012.
I just got off the Arizona voter registration site, and the MVD site...in both places, one must have proof of citizenship, from a rather lengthy list of primary and secondary sources (choose two or three, from the list). For the voter registration, they also verify the social security number.
The hoops to jump through are all in place...
So, what is it that we are talking about? If you are registered to vote here, you have already given proof of citizenship--you even have to register your vehicle, if you have one, before you can vote.
We already have every proof in place, short of inserting ID chips, under the skin...
Don't be fooled...this is a ploy that the neocons are using, borrowing from the old Jim Crow Southern Democrats...targeting the poor, the undereducated, and the continued second class citizens, who overwhelmingly will vote Democrat...only this time, it is with the added scare tactic of the "illegal alien menace". It is only a short step from instituting a poll tax, and a literacy test...effectively silencing Americans who are born with darker skin, or a learning disability. In short, anyone who would be "foolish" enough to vote Democrat.
I understand there's even a push to limit the voting hours, in certain targeted districts, nationally. That sounds like a natural effect of having shadow groups, with a lot of money, running campaigns.
Got SuperPac?
fae4now posted at 10:58 pm on Tue, Sep 25, 2012.
Gotta love ya Willie!
That bit about the eyeball scans made me laugh. Not at the notion of it but imagine the hailstorm it would unleash - the tea Partiers would scream about big government control, the businesses would scream about too much regulation forcing them to do it and the tightwad Repubs would complain about who pays for it!
Sure would save everyone from chasing paperwork and paying various associated fees. Eyeballs are still free aren't they?
But seriously I am confused. Willie you say it's unlawful to check citizenship status when registering to vote. Bluepoet says proof of citizenship is required on MVD and voter registration websites. I am frankly too lazy to do the homework required to call one of you out so would one of you kindly own your error? Many thanks in advance.