Jeez ~  ~ Sooz

Misleading Wisconsin Form Asks Residents For Photo ID To Get A Birth Certificate, Which Is Needed To Get A Photo ID

By Scott Keyes posted from ThinkProgress Justice on Dec 7, 2011 at 5:30 pm

[quote="macroscopic"]Though Wisconsin offers a “freeâ€

Yet these same right-wingers will pontificate about the virtues of "our freedom and democracy" while they bitch and moan about the shortcomings of elections in other countries around the world.

The only form of democracy they "understand" is that which is imposed at gunpoint. There's your real disconnect with reality.

"The only form of democracy they "understand" is that which is imposed at gunpoint. There's your real disconnect with reality."

Either that or the democracy they can buy.

Haven't come accross one of those yet... oh, that's what we have under Harper.

Just a thought, but wouldn't a situation where one party controls the government and unilaterally places structural impediments preventing people who would otherwise be able to vote from voting consititute voter fraud.  After all, these photo ID laws may catch a handful of people who would not be eligible to vote (although even convicted felons, out-of-state students, etc. could still have that state's photo ID) but it will prevent thousands of people who otherwise legitimately could vote from voting. 

 but it will prevent thousands of people who otherwise legitimately could vote from voting.

A couple of things:
First, that is the point of this voter ID legislation, to discourage the wrong kind of people from voting. Second, Wisconsin is not the first state that requires a photo ID for voting. We have had very lenient voting procedures, much more so than most other states, probably. We have had same day registration, i.e. you show up at the polls, give your name and address and present some evidence of your residency at that address, such as a utility bill in your name.  AND IT HAS SERVEDS US VERY WELL, in that we've had a higher than average poll turnout, citizens don't have to jump through any hoops to vote, no matter what their economic status or any other consideration...and we have had virtually no voter fraud.  That's not for lack of searching for fraud, either.  Republican groups have searched high and low for examples of fraud and have come up with a few students who voed in two places, and a few folks with recent felonies who shouldn't have voted. Last I heard, out of all the millions of people who voted, they were able to identify about 30 cases they could sort of classify as fraud, and only a handful of those even turned out to be prosecutable. But because WI isn't unique in requiring the ID, there's no issue of the law itself being fraud.

Republicans have been planning ahead these past few years, about how to tip the odds in their favor. Democrats have had the edge with students (we have a lot of 'em), seniors and African Americans. Repubs' solutioln to that problem is not to convince these folks of the wisdom of their agenda, but to make it harder for them to vote at all. Cynical, cynical, cynical. It didn't used to be that way up here. Many of us are ashamed.

Here's more ~ I'm very glad to learn the NAACP is filing a lawsuit this week ~ Sooz

Wisconsin's Voter ID Law Forces Woman To Pay Unconstitutional Birth Certificate Poll Tax To Get Photo ID

By Tanya Somanader on Dec 12, 2011 at 5:00 pm

And here's still more ~ this law is certainly getting to be VERY expensive for ALL Wisconsin residents ~  ~ Sooz

ThinkProgress NEWS FLASH

Wisconsin To Spend Nearly $500,000 Educating Citizens About New Voter ID Law | Next month, Wisconsin will launch an ad campaign to educate residents about the state's new voter ID law. The estimated price tag for 28 weeks of these public service announcements? $436,000. Wisconsin should be commended for undertaking such an ambitious campaign to educate the public (including a website, print ads, billboards, brochures, a toll-free hotline, and television and radio spots). Of course, they could have spared taxpayers the considerable expense and completely unnecessary and damaging voting restrictions by simply not passing the voter ID law in the first place.

Hey! They are just following Alabama's example of passing a law, then spending untold and undisclosed $$ to educate their law enforcement how to actually enforce the law.  

i can see why you put rethinking in quotes.  there is absolutely no indication that they thought about it in the first place.

"Alabama is now considering using prisoners"

They want a slave population. Can't do it with them foreigners muckin' up the works.

Wisconsin Worker Fired for Email on Free Voter IDs

This shyte is going to cost Wisconsin taxpayers millions.

I fully expect the ACLU to win this lawsuit ~ and it'll be interesting to tote up all of Walker's expenses in "saving money" ~ Sooz 

ACLU sues Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker over new voter ID law
By Eric W. Dolan
Tuesday, December 13, 2011

The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Wisconsin and the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty filed a federal lawsuit against Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on Tuesday, alleging that the state's new voter ID law is unconstitutional.

The law, which was passed by the Republican-led state legislature in May, requires voters to present a state-issued photo ID when they cast ballots in federal, state and local elections. Other photo IDs, such as technical college and veteran ID cards, cannot be used.

Proponents of the law claim it will prevent voter fraud, but the ACLU says it deprives many citizens of their basic right to vote and imposes a de facto poll tax.

A practice run earlier this month found that nearly 20 percent of voters coming to the polls did not have a valid photo ID with them.

“The state of Wisconsin has created a voter ID system that is making it very hard or impossible for residents to exercise their cherished right to vote,â€