This article, published in Fox News in Georgia, features the account of an elderly couple who recently lost their government Photo-ID in a house fire, and therefore won’t be able to vote in the July 15 primary. The July 15 primary is Georgia’s first election in which the requirement that voters at the polls show government ID is in effect.
they could have got a duplicate copy of thier lost id from the state in a day the same day and still vote if they really wanted to vote and not try to play the”victim”. The id law is a good law that prevents voter fraud
The article says the couple is not able to travel to the location that would replace the ID. There is no evidence that anyone in Georgia has ever impersonated another voter at the polls, so I don’t agree that Georgia’s law prevents voter fraud.
How do other nations [if any] handle the vote ID details?
There are no examples anywhere in Georgia of a person who is dead showing up at the polls and voting? Have they bothered to check to see if it happens? Because it happens in New York City and other places all the time. We read about it in the papers after every election. I, too, have no problem with requiring voters to prove who they say they are. As long as they get a free ID if they prove that they can’t afford one.
Most states depend on the voter’s signature in the roster book at the polls. California does a random check after the election to see if the voter’s signature matches the voter’s signature on the voter registration card. Also the polling places in California all have fewer than 1,000 registered voters, and with 4 or 5 polling place officials, there is a fair chance that at least one of the officials will know the people in the neighborhood.
Also, California and most (if not all states) provide that death certificates be sent to the elections office, and dead people are immediately removed from the voter registration records.
And if the criminal is impersonating a living person, the record will show a problem if the real voter has voted absentee (because there is a record of that at the polls). And if the real voter hasn’t voted absentee, how does the criminal know that the real voter won’t appear later that day at the polling place? Then the crime would be known for sure.
Generally, the risk of being caught impersonating someone else at the polls is moderately high. There are far easier ways to commit election fraud, such as getting hold of someone else’s absentee ballot, or influencing a senile voter who is voting absentee, or arranging for corrupt elections officials to report phony vote totals. All these accounts of dead people voting are really all about manipulating the poll books and the vote returns after the polls close.
John W: See what happens when you don’t use capital letters? Now I’ve lost my id, and my ego and superego don’t know what to do.
Richard – It’s very easy for a group to search death records in New York and match them against the rolls of registered voters. In fact, in New York State, it’s almost impossible to be taken off of the rolls even if you don’t vote for years. As long as the card the NYSBOE sends you isn’t returned to them, you are still on the rolls, and these cards are usually just thrown out at the address getting them. So realistically, you can be dead and still registered for years down the road. And even if the death certificate reaches the BOE, there are a lot of overworked civil servants (or bribed ones) who don’t do anything with them. You think the risk is high if the person gets caught? You think a drug addict or drunk cares if he gets caught to vote in exchange for some money? Happens a lot in New York City. Probably other bigger areas as well. (You actually think Mayor Daley wasn’t stuffing ballot boxes in Chicago in the 60’s?) And while the couple thousand times a year it happens might not turn a national election, it would turn a municipal or county election.
The article isn’t available.
What form of government photo-ID did they have?
Did they have any other losses? Any injuries?
Why couldn’t they travel to the place where a replacement ID could be secured? How were they planning on getting to the polling place?
The polling place was very close to their residence and a friend would have driven them. The place where one gets a replace ID is 20 miles away.
Steve Z: cite some recent articles or research on voter impersonation, please.
Yes I could see how this would be a problem. Hypothetically a person might be able to make it to the DMV the same day, but that depends on whether or not they have the documentation available to get the renewal document.
As a wild guess, I’ll bet that a person who just lost their ID cards in a fire don’t have their birth certificates handy either. Birth certificates, the preferred document for getting your ID reissued, are extremely difficult to get same day.
Doesn’t Congress require fingerprints for a driver’s license? Were their fingertips burnt in the fire?