from Healey -
A recent
NewYork Times article calls attention to Republican governors and legislatures in favor of enacting laws that will require a photo ID in order for Americans to cast their ballots. Their goal is to prevent voter fraud, but many Democrats are concerned that students, minorities, elderly, and the poor are the groups least likely to have a photo ID. These are also the groups most likely to vote Democratic. The Justice Department under President George W. Bush uncovered just 86 cases of voter fraud nationwide. A study at New York University Law School has said the laws would make it significantly harder for 5 million Americans to cast their ballots. On Monday, the Justice Department blocked Texas’s new voter ID law. Some states were putting"early voting" places in upscale malls and planning places for voting booths according to the 2010 elections, when Republican turnout was strong. They also looked at locations from the 2008 elections when Democratic turnout was strong with an unusually large turnout of votes from heavy minority and student populations. Do you consider the issue of voting fraud to be a big deal? Do you think it has been a problem in the past? Do you think a photo ID should be required, or do you think it's just a ploy to alter election results?
Here is an article from a Republican point of view-
I personally think that it should be necessary for you to show your photo ID to vote in the United States. I personally do not think that the money is a problem here though. I Personally think it is just the inconvenience of getting a photo ID, or maybe the fact that some people do not have the time to get one. 1 year ago before I had my licensee they required a photo ID at LAC for you to get a basketball to play with on the court, so I went and got one and it was five dollars. I personally think that if someone wants to vote so badly they could afford a five dollar photo ID. This can prevent fraud whether it be 86 people. or five million. This is essential to the U.S. because it has the potential to sway the votes for the potential person who will be running the country for the next 4 years.
ReplyDeleteThis also brings up the point on what have they done in the past such as when there was no such thing as a photo ID, I think that it was probably still a problem, because there all ways was and all ways probably will be someone trying to sway voters. How ever now that we have the photo ID and have had it for a while I think that we should take full advantage of it.
At first I thought having your photo ID required was a good idea but then I realized that not everyone has a photo ID and it is not required to have. If you do not want a photo ID and still want to vote, you should be allowed. If the only reason you have or use a photo ID is to vote, there is a great chance that you will lose it in between voting times. With the voter fraud rate being so little, the ID is not even necessary. Some people cannot drive or do not wish to drive and in order to get a cheap photo ID, they would need their birth certificate. Not all of these people have them or know where they are. Getting a photo ID for such a simple task seems arduous and not worth the effort. Also, even though republicans might not have at first thought the party percentage would be hindered, they certainly realize it now. People without ID’s fall into categories that are stereotypically democratic, which means less democrats would be able to vote for lack of ID, or incentive to get an ID. In a way i relate this marginally to Jim Crow laws, which discriminated against black people voting.
ReplyDeleteI think that while getting an ID is not that much of an inconvenience, and I agree that if you want to vote that badly it's not too big of a deal, the government may be overreacting a bit since there was actually not that much voter fraud in the past. In this day and age, you need an ID to do just about anything. It's unlikely that a person who is of voting age but doesn't have an ID would want to vote anyways. The fact is that IDs have become very important in today's society, and while the government's actions may be a little drastic in terms of necessity, it wouldn't be that outlandish to require identification.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Tahlia and Gracie on some points, I think that you should be able to vote with out an ID but it is not that big of a deal to get one. I also think no one should be denied the right to vote, and until it can be proven as a fact that voter fraud is a problem i think that you can let everyone vote.
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