2011-03-15, 09:51 PM
Sarah's completely right. Wisconsin is also trying to pass a bill called Senate Bill 6, SB6, also known as the Voter ID bill, which requires all Wisconsin voters to show a Wisconsin drivers license at the polls in order to vote. That's a complete change from our current voter registration laws, which allow voters to register at polls through the day of the election with student ID cards (if they live in residence halls), or any other official document that verifies one's address at that location (such as an apartment lease, a gas and electric bill, etc.). It may not seem like such a boneheaded idea asking for photo ID to vote, as we have to show our ID when using credit cards, but if you look closer you'll notice that Wisconsin has no issues with voter fraud, which is what you'd imagine as the logical catalyst prompting legislation like this. In our last election in November 2010, the state had 14 cases of voter fraud. 14. That's less than 0.00000001% or some ridiculously tiny number, made even smaller by the fact that we were one of the top voter turnout states in the nation, due, of course, to our flexible, simple, yet legitimate voter registration laws.
So what's wrong with transforming voter registration and voting to JUST a Wisconsin driver's license? First off, it disenfranchises students beyond a shadow of a doubt. Student populations tend to be some of the most transient in the state, as we usually live in a different location during each academic year (even a different dorm room in the same building), which means we need to re-register to vote every single year. If the only form of identification allowed for voter registration and voting is an ID that costs $25, $30, whatever the DMV charges, and is only obtainable at a location several miles outside campus, what do you think is going to happen to student voter turnout at the polls? It'll drop significantly.
And just to clarify, polls throughout the past decade have shown students vote Democrat 75% of the time.
tl;dr, Republicans in Wisconsin have not only succeeded in breaking unions, the largest sole contributor to the Democratic party, but are now targeting another noticeably large group of the Democrat's voting base - the students. To a lesser degree this bill affects minorities and immigrants as well, as it's statistically more difficult for those groups to also obtain driver's licenses, for reasons including ID fees and citizenship red tape (I'm not advocating for illegal immigrants to vote, I'm talking about the red tape involved with verifying any citizenship, which can be burdensome to the point of delaying the acquisition of an ID for recent, legitimate immigrants). And of course this is not even raising the valid contention that this bill is unconstitutional, violating poll tax fees in requiring a specific form of ID - one that citizens must pay for - in order to vote.
It's disgusting and, like you said Sarah, hypocritical of many fundamental Republican platforms.
So what's wrong with transforming voter registration and voting to JUST a Wisconsin driver's license? First off, it disenfranchises students beyond a shadow of a doubt. Student populations tend to be some of the most transient in the state, as we usually live in a different location during each academic year (even a different dorm room in the same building), which means we need to re-register to vote every single year. If the only form of identification allowed for voter registration and voting is an ID that costs $25, $30, whatever the DMV charges, and is only obtainable at a location several miles outside campus, what do you think is going to happen to student voter turnout at the polls? It'll drop significantly.
And just to clarify, polls throughout the past decade have shown students vote Democrat 75% of the time.
tl;dr, Republicans in Wisconsin have not only succeeded in breaking unions, the largest sole contributor to the Democratic party, but are now targeting another noticeably large group of the Democrat's voting base - the students. To a lesser degree this bill affects minorities and immigrants as well, as it's statistically more difficult for those groups to also obtain driver's licenses, for reasons including ID fees and citizenship red tape (I'm not advocating for illegal immigrants to vote, I'm talking about the red tape involved with verifying any citizenship, which can be burdensome to the point of delaying the acquisition of an ID for recent, legitimate immigrants). And of course this is not even raising the valid contention that this bill is unconstitutional, violating poll tax fees in requiring a specific form of ID - one that citizens must pay for - in order to vote.
It's disgusting and, like you said Sarah, hypocritical of many fundamental Republican platforms.