Real Facts on Voter ID Laws

To start, I want to apologize for the formatting issues with this post. I couldn't get formatting to work properly. Thank you for bearing with me.

Ok, I know I've discussed this before. But since the Drive-By Media has started up it's lines about the "Republicans disenfranchising minorities" I guess it's time to bring a nice big heaping plate of reality to people AGAIN on voter ID.

Backstory: This all started when a friend of mine posted this link from Rolling Stone entitled, and I quote "The GOP War on Voting."  First and foremost, Rolling Stone, I genuinely do not give a flying rip about your political opinions. Stick to music news. If you want to occasionaly do a story about what's going on in the business office of Gibson or Fender, fine. Otherwise, and please listen to me...STAY OUT OF POLITICS!  Secondly, if you're the type of person who gets your political news from Rolling Stone, please, I'm begging you, do America a favor and just don't vote...because clearly you're not informed enough to affect  other people's lives.  (I'm guessing your favorite "news program" is the Daily Show*, right?)
So let's look at this incredibly informed (sarcasm) commentary from Rolling Stone.  You can see the bias dripping from the article, starting at the first paragraph:

Just as Dixiecrats once used poll taxes and literacy tests to bar black Southerners from voting, a new crop of GOP governors and state legislators has passed a series of seemingly disconnected measures that could prevent millions of students, minorities, immigrants, ex-convicts and the elderly from casting ballots.

Just in case you missed it, did you notice how they referred to the Democrats who installed and maintained Jim Crow as "Dixiecrats?" Once again, Democrats HATE hearing about their party's history, which is why they continue to try to change backstories with the GOP. Oh, and by the way, if you're a legal immigrant you probably have a green card. Oh, and also by the way, a green card IS A PHOTO ID PEOPLE!
Now who are supposedly being prevented from voting? Lets see, students, minorities, immigrants, ex-cons and the elderly. Why?  Well, let's dig further:

- Kansas and Alabama now require would-be voters to provide proof of citizenship before registering.

NOOOO! You mean you'd have to prove you're eligible to vote before registering to vote??? HOW DARE YOU!

- Maine repealed Election Day voter registration, which had been on the books since 1973.

You mean that a concerned citizen might have to take five minutes out of there day to go online and request a voter registration form? Listen people, I'm far too busy making a fort with my sofa cushions and an old blanket to do that.
- Five states – Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Tennessee and West Virginia – cut short their early voting periods.
You mean I'd need to take my responsibility and right to vote so seriously that I have to make time to vote on Election Day? What if I'm out of town! Oh, right...there's those absentee ballot things. But as we've established, I'm too busy building my couch fort to request an absentee ballot. You evil Republicans!

- Alabama, Kansas, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin – will require voters to produce a government-issued ID before casting ballots. More than 10 percent of U.S. citizens lack such identification, and the numbers are even higher among constituencies that traditionally lean Democratic – including 18 percent of young voters and 25 percent of African-Americans.

You mean I would be forced to show I am who I say I am before I vote? You mean like I have to do to purchase alcohol, tobbaco, cough syrup, some allergy pills, open a bank account, rent or buy a home, get married, register for school, cash a check, get married, get on an airplane, apply for government benefits like Medicaid and food stamps, or enter a government building.

I've said it before, and I will say it again. The only people who are even capable of being disenfranchised by voter ID laws are subsistence farmers who live on a piece of tax-exempt land that they own due to squatters rights. Otherwise it is basically impossible to live in the adult world with no photo identification.

As to the claim that more than 10% of citizens have no photo ID...I'm wondering how many of those are inelligble to vote.  Now notice the cleverly chosen language of "U.S. Citizens."  One has to wonder why they didn't say "U.S. Adults" or "Citizens over 18 years old?"  Could it be this statistic includes my one year old nephew, who, while not having a photo ID, is also ONE YEAR OLD? (For those of you in Palm Beach County, FL that means NOT ELIGIBLE TO VOTE FOR 17 MORE YEARS.) He is a citizen, however, so he qualifies for this data.

Oh, by the way, American University's Center for Democracy and Election Management performed a study in 2008.  They found that, on average, LESS THAN 1% OF ELIGIBLE VOTERS HAD NO PHOTO ID! Yes, the number was slightly higher for black Americans, but that means it was 3.8%, which is still a fairly insignificant number, especially considering how necessary it is to have a photo ID in life.

Honestly, friends, the logic of this statement is the equivalent of saying that requiring ID before purchasing tobbaco products is discrimintation against American Indians, considering they are 66% more likely to be smokers than white and black Americans. They're also nearly 3 times more likely to be smokers than Asian-Americans. (Source) So apparently requiring ID to prove one is legally allowed to smoke is racially biased against American Indians. I blame the Republicans for...ummm....welll....some reason or another.

Bottom line, friends is this: It's basically impossible to live in the adult world without some kind of photo identification. So the only people being "disenfranchised" will be people who were never supposed to vote in the first place, whether those votes were cast from the grave, by those not registered to vote, or multiple votes by the same person.

So actually, the only question I have to ask is this: Why is it so important to the Democrat party to ensure that it's possible for people to vote without proving they are either eligible to vote or a citizen?  

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* If you watch the Daily Show for it's genuine, intended purpose (comedic entertainment based on the news) then this comment is not directed at you.