Comments about ‘Robert Bennett: Photo IDs may be inconvenient, but they help prevent voter fraud’

And once again those calling for making voting more difficult can't actually cite evidence of any remotely significant voter fraud.

They want the elderly, the poor and students to have a harder time voting because it is those voters who are more likely to vote for Democrats.

It's pure and simple voter suppression.

Photo IDs may be inconvenient, but they help prevent voter fraud

or

Preventing voter fraud by means other than photo id's may be inconvient but ...

Other means should be used so that the inconvience doesn't fall mainly on the poor.

Bob cites one case, 12 years ago? There is no voter fraud problem. There may be shenanigans from time to time, but the GOP is actually suppressing the vote and they know it.

nice one Bob.

A solution looking for a problem.

The suppression of Democratic votes is just a side benefit.

Laws like this will, without question, reduce far more legitimate votes than fraudulent ones.

Can anyone dispute that?

If absentee ballots, or mail in ballots, do not require ID; why do votes in person? What is inherently different in how I cast my vote that requires ID or not?

ID laws have nothing to do with "voter fraud" and everything to do with SUPPRESSING the vote among the marginalized people who have no car! Millions of voters don't have driver licenses because they can't afford them or they are too old or disabled to need one. The Republicans know full well that marginalized people tend to vote Democratic--because the Democrats CARE about them.

nice antidotal story Robert but it does not change the fact following a massive investigations across the country into voter fraud in 2008 there where only 7 cases of voter fraud that where prosecutable in the entire country. When there is fraud it should be aggressively prosecuted but antidotal stories do not translate to wide spread fraud and the voter ID laws have already caused 100's of legitimate votes to not be counted in the primary elections alone.

Florida received the federal database of illegal aliens so they can remove them from the rolls.

I get a feeling sometimes that posting robots are fighting this. They get proof and just ignore it, and keep saying the same thing. Utah in 2005 did a study and found 383 foreign nationals with ITIN numbers registered to vote here. Only 14 did vote, but Utah refused to prosecute (Shurtleff?) because they could not determine citizenship. (the ITIN is not for citizens) more dead carp

Like not prosecuting illegal aliens for perjury when filling out I-9 forms, or felonies for id theft, social security numbers, etc, yet prosecuting Americans for felonies, we know we are not getting the entire story.

Bob tells the inside story, if they had not caught them in time, thousands could of voted, and we would never of known. They would of never found out, and if they did, they would of kept it quiet to "protect our countries reputation".

@RRB
what we are getting is more and more conspiracy theories from the far right as reality increasingly elude them.

@RRB

This “study” you site was conducted by comparing the name and birthdate of voters to the name and birthdate of individuals with a taxpayer ID number investigated by immigration authorities, but this method has been proven to yield errors: the voters in question may not be the noncitizens identified. Moreover, the source stated that 14 of these individuals had actually voted; even if the 14 were in fact noncitizens, there is no allegation in the cited source that any of the individuals voted at the polls or in the name of another meaning voter ID laws would not have prevented them from voting. sources Michael McDonald & Justin Levitt, Seeing Double Voting (2007), Letter from John M. Schaff, Utah Auditor General, to John L. Valentine, Utah State Senate President (Feb. 8, 2005)

@RRB
"if they had not caught them in time, thousands could of voted, and we would never of known"
Oh my heavens 1000''s of legitimate voters may have gotten to vote that where shut out because of delays at the polling station caused by poll sitters incompetence that slowed down the voting process. we would have known because the reason the polls would have been allowed to stay open would have been because of the court order which is a public document.

@RRB
"Utah in 2005 did a study and found 383 foreign nationals with ITIN numbers registered to vote here."

Based on population that would be about 3,000 Pennsylvanians with 140 actually voting, so why throw off 8% of the states' population from the voter roles? Oh right, to let Romney win, as their house majority leader said.

@RRB

"Florida received the federal database of illegal aliens so they can remove them from the rolls."

=======

If that were the case, I would have no problem at all. They were comparing voting records to driver license records, and that is the rub. Citizens being removed from the voting rolls simply because of a potential address mismatch, where is the due process in that?

Re: "It's pure and simple voter suppression."

Sure it is -- suppression of those who shouldn't be voting anyway.

It's simply ageist, racist, elitist blather to suggest that validly registered and qualified voters who want to vote will somehow be prevented from doing so because they are old, infirm, or naturalized.

The is only one reason to oppose voter ID -- to enable cheating.

And Democratts have made it crystal clear -- we intend to do so.

Great column, Senator. Photo ID laws are absolutely ESSENTIAL in protecting the integrity of the vote. Those who disagree either don't understand the seriousness of voter fraud, or have ulterior motives.

When society makes voting and registering more and more "convenient," we also make it easier to commit voter fraud, which is a very serious blow against our constitutional republic.

Also, it's very misleading to cite the small number of cases prosecuted as "proof" that voter fraud is a non-problem. Even when voter fraud is obvious or rampant, it's often hard to prosecute and prove in court. It's also politically UNPOPULAR to prosecute, because of likely (but phony) counter-accusations of "voter suppression" or "racism" or "disenfranchisement."

@Peanut Gallery

"Photo ID laws are absolutely ESSENTIAL in protecting the integrity of the vote...When society makes voting and registering more and more "convenient," we also make it easier to commit voter fraud, which is a very serious blow against our constitutional republic."

===============

So, do you propose doing away with absentee ballots? They cannot show ID.
If not, why would someone going to the physical polling place be required to show it?
If so, are Servicemembers not entitled to vote while they are serving their country outside of her borders?

You can't have it both ways.

If voter fraud is really the issue, the precincts would be small enough that the judges could know everyone, and thus catch a potential fraudster. Why don't we do that? Is it money? For the big concern that everyone has over voter fraud, cost shouldn't count.

Again, you can't have it both ways. Voting is an unalienable right in a democracy. If PhotoID is required, the State must provide me with one, free of charge, otherwise it is a poll tax (my DL cost $25 for 5 years, or roughly $25 to vote for President.)

If you choose not to have the required ID that is not the government's fault. If the government were preventing people from getting the ID that would be one thing, but it is not. I choose not to have a passport, but I don't blame the government for not allowing me to travel internationally.

We definitely need to prevent voter fraud, but what will we do to stop the shenanigans by which local GOP's fixed some of their own primaries this year?

@peanut gallery

So you admit there is nothing to support your conspiracy theories but we are all the ones that do not understand or have alternative objectives?