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Can you cite something to support that? It sounds like a just-so claim: it’s not really a problem, and the people complaining are just bad people! As far as I
by FakeComments 7y ago
Can you cite something to support that?
It sounds like a just-so claim: it’s not really a problem, and the people complaining are just bad people!
As far as I’m aware, not only is there not accurate study — jurisdictions like Washington intentionally make it difficult to track whether non-citizens are voting by issuing them IDs and offering to register them to vote sans additional proof of citizenship. This is why WA has to have enhanced ID — they don’t meet the federal standards of ensuring people they issue ID to are here legally.
It seems strange that people refuse to even talk about it and resort to nasty ad hominems if there genuinely is no issue.
By contrast, insulting the motivations of people genuinely trying to stand up for the law and act with integrity because you decided to employ force and just override them is deeply, unrecoverably immoral.
- kevingadd 7y agoGo look for citations to support your claim that voter ID is needed and identity fraud is pervasive in elections. It'll be hard to find some, because historically it just doesn't happen. It'd be one thing to put those laws in place in response to pervasive fraud, but historically we just have lawmakers explicitly saying they did it to reduce voter turnout which is... kind of a mistake. Whether or not ID is issued to non-citizens is a massively different issue. People need ID for all sorts of stuff - that doesn't mean everyone with ID is automatically going out there and skipping work to stand in line to vote.
- andrewla 7y ago> because historically it just doesn't happen I understand the objections to voter ID based on unequal access to acceptable identification. But I don't understand the "it just doesn't happen" argument. This kind of voter fraud seems like it would be nearly impossible to detect. I guess you could look at how often ballots are spoiled because of signature mismatches or incidences of "the registry shows that you already voted". It seems like once voter id laws are passed, any laws or regulations limiting access to ID are de facto challengeable under the Equal Protection principle.
- kevingadd 7y agoMany crimes are impossible to detect. That isn't a valid argument for going after crimes in a way that has a proven negative impact on democracy. The ID laws are already challenged, but the nature of our courts means they remain in place for years while the gears of justice turn.
- andrewla 7y agoThe proven negative impact of the voter id laws, as far as I know, is very small. Michigan had .3% non-id voters, and Texas had ~.01% non-id voters. Both states allow voters to fill out an affidavit. These stats were just found offhand, I'm not sure if there's a comprehensive review. So we have a small proven negative impact on democracy from voter id laws, and a small unproven negative impact from their absence; I don't think it's unreasonable to prevent a crime that is easily preventable under those circumstances.
- mikeash 7y agoThe incidence of voter fraud in the 2016 election was approximately 0.000003%. Why do your numbers get labeled as "proven" and mine as "unproven"? You're eager to declare it to be impossible to figure out how pervasive voter fraud is based on imagined hypothetical difficulties, but you're eager to pull out numbers saying that ID requirements don't discourage people, despite obvious holes in the measurement (such as people who decided not to vote because they don't know about the affidavit).
- blackflame7001 7y agoThe whole point of this article is to make elections more secure not be complacent with the status quo. Not having an ID and needing an ID to vote are 2 different issues that democrats insist on making the same. Just give every citizen a free ID. It would cost less than 1 days interest on the national debt. The real reason is because democrats want to turn texas blue like they did to new mexico and dominate elections with just 3 states
- blackflame7001 7y agoGo look for Russian collusion, “it’ll be hard to find some, because historically it just doesn't happen” Still satisfied with your argument?
- FireBeyond 7y ago> jurisdictions like Washington intentionally make it difficult to track whether non-citizens are voting by issuing them IDs and offering to register them to vote sans additional proof of citizenship. This is why WA has to have enhanced ID — they don’t meet the federal standards of ensuring people they issue ID to are here legally. You are not automatically registered to vote just because you have a WA driver license. I moved here from Australia, got my DL, doesn't mean in any way shape or form that I can vote as a permanent resident, nor can I register.
- FakeComments 7y ago> > offering to register them to vote sans additional proof of citizenship > You are not automatically registered to vote just because you have a WA driver license. I find it interesting you didn’t actually critique what I said. In my experience, that’s common with people who hold your position. There was also no attempt to reply with actual facts: just more fallacious arguments when they were called out about making an unsupported claim and ad hominem — > Because there’s no significant amount of fraud occurring that ID requirements would fix, and ID requirements are often made to unfairly disenfranchise certain groups. That’s what HN groupthink is: unsupported facts and ad hominems in support, downvotes and strawman responses to people who disagree.
- FireBeyond 7y agoYou said: > issuing them IDs and offering to register them to vote sans additional proof of citizenship Washington state doesn't "offer to register you to vote based on you getting a Washington Driver's License". WA DOL on Voter Registration: "You will be required to show that you are: - A citizen of the United States. - A legal resident of Washington State and have lived at your address for at least 30 days before the election. - At least 18 years old when you vote. - Not under Department of Corrections supervision for a Washington felony conviction. and - Not disqualified from voting due to a court order." So your statement that Washington is "offering to register people to vote "sans additional proof of citizenship" is factually false. So, absolutely did I critique what you said. It's wrong. Washington's Drivers License does not meet federal standards because it doesn't require citizenship or residency _to be issued_, not because they're registering or offering to register non-citizens to vote (because the Fed governments solution to that would be to ignore that actual issue, and just say it doesn't meet Fed ID requirements, sure). "Fallacious arguments" - I quoted the WA DOL. Where is your source that the refusal to accept the state DL federally is due to "voter registration of non-citizens"? As it is, Washington ALSO offers the Enhanced Drivers License which _does_ meet federal requirements, showing citizenship proof, primarily used for land travel to Canada.