Kansas requires voter registration applicants to supply a birth certificate, passport, or naturalization certificate when they register to vote. This lengthy Kansas City Star explains how that law is preventing some individuals from registering to vote. The Kansas law even applies to the federal Voter Registration form, and a U.S. District Court will eventually rule on whether Kansas can force the federal government to let it enforce the Kansas law. Thanks to HowAppealing for the link.
Too bad the article didn’t challenge Brownback or any of his un-American, anti-democracy Republican cohorts on the phony premise behind this and other similar laws being passed and signed into law by un-American, anti-democracy Republicans – that aliens (you know…”them”) are coming into this country and voting in our elections in numbers greater than can be counted on a Republican’s hands and feet.
There is simply no evidence to support that contention, and the premise flies in the face of logic anyway. Who but a total idiot would risk arrest and deportation just to be only one of almost 12 million voters in Florida, for instance?
But logic doesn’t stop the un-American, anti-democracy Republican party from lying to support laws and practices that are designed to help them win elections. If you can’t get enough people to vote for you, then find ways to make sure people can’t vote for your opponent. And for the Republican party, that means making it harder for young people, working people, and people of color to register to vote, and THAT is precisely the reason for the proliferation of these laws in states controlled by Republican legislatures and governors.
Federal law requires proof of citizenship when getting a driver’s license. Kansas should be requiring proof of citizenship on any licenses which they don’t have when it is renewed.
Better yet would be for the federal government to issue IDs, and require that they can be used for voting in federal elections, at the voting address shown on the card, without any pre-registration. The federal government would provide updated address information on a regular basis, and require that congressional districts be drawn based on citizen voting age population.
Motor-voter could then be dispensed with as unnecessary since anyone who goes to a government office would have a federal ID (or not be able to obtain service).
The federal government should eliminate the corporate income tax for any employer that the federal government certifies its work force as being entitled to work in this country, and pays a $2/hour premium over minimum wage.
Jimbo –
So tell us…what problem or problems, exactly, are YOU attempting to address with these proposed changes in process and law? And cite some evidence to support your anticipated, customary non-response, please.
And when did YOU become such a strong proponent of federal involvement in states’ affairs, anyway?
Remember – we want some facts. What are the problems, and what FACTS support the contention that they’re real problem? You might start with Florida’s analysis of their voter rolls.
(I like the $2.00 premium idea, BTW. A fine example of Republican largesse. That two bucks would ALMOST make up for the inflation-adjusted loss in wage that minimum wage workers have incurred over the past 20 years.)
Barry Scary,
People move around. Some have ambiguous place of residence. They may travel a lot, or move between residences. A single federal ID would make it easier for people to update to reflect actual changes in residency, and ensure that election officials at both the new location and the old location are aware of the change. It would also simplify name changes.
Requiring a separate voter registration is simply busy work, and leaves some voters registered in multiple places, or at a place where they don’t actually live. Since people vote infrequently, they max be lax about updating their voter registration. They are unlikely to be as negligent with their federal ID, particularly when it made it difficult to work, go to school, travel, etc.
Census data is a always out of date, and inaccurate since it depends on voluntary reporting. But the federal ID would be constantly updated, and could be used for changing congressional districts. It would also facilitate representation for those who live overseas. And this would be a true implementation of OMOV.
The federal government has lost track of 4 million persons who overstayed their visas, as well as another 8 million who didn’t bother checking in in the first place. The federal ID would help ensure that these persons are not employed.
I’m glad you agree to elimination of the corporate income tax.
“People move around.”
That’s what we need…substantive, detailed analysis of the problem
Thanks. You’re consistently nonresponsive…i’ll give you that, Jimbo.
Oh…BTW…the corporate income tax has just about been eliminated already, but of course you know that. Impoverished GE, for instance, laboring under our oppressive corporate tax structure and paying, how much was it in income taxes? Zero?
Brings a tear to your fascist eye, doesn’t it?