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[RDreamer]

Fuck my state.

Seriously, the racism of the voter ID laws isn't even remotely a secret and anyone that defends them is just seriously misinformed or actually racist. I'm hoping around here it's more misinformation than racism. Just go look it up. You have Republicans literally saying it helped them win elections or do better in elections, not because it cuts down fraud but because it cuts down democrat voter blocks. Look up the cuts to early voting, too.

Fuck Wisconsin and fuck the republicans pulling this anti-democratic bullshit.

 

[Vicetrailia]

What more can I say. More guns less voting.

 

[Omegasquash]

To this day, I still get riled up that Walker got re-elected.

That's a guy that's a villain, knows it, and doesn't give a shit what you think.

 

[Figboy79]

Fucking Wisconsin. Fucking Scott Walker.

I'm so glad I moved from Milwaukee to Los Angeles 17 years ago. LA has it's own issues, but Max Lord being in charge isn't one of them.

 

[shadowsdarknes]

Make sure to defund or close most DMVs so the poor can't get IDs.

 

[Palette Swap]

Isn't it Wisconsin that has a DMV only open on the fifth Wednesday of the month?

Google yields this :

Sauk City Service Center - Driver License/ID Renewal Office

Community Center

730 Monroe St

Sauk City, WI 53583

Hours: 8:00 am - 4:15 pm - Fifth Wednesday of any month

https://www.co.sauk.wi.us/adrcpage/driver-license-and-voter-id-locations

Mind you, I have no idea how geographically distributed the other centers are, or how many people each covers, but this isn't a great look.

 

[RDreamer]

Just looked this up and created this nice map of Milwaukee in particular:

The green circles are DMVs.

Keep in mind Milwaukee county has about 70% of the black population of the entire state. So, that many people have to go through about 3 DMVs, one of which is completely closed on the weekend and the other two have less than a half a shift open. The rest of their days are on shitty hours, too.

 

[lednerg]

The Roberts Supreme Court, working as intended.

 

[Goro Majima]

The more I think about it, even if you get a Wisconsin ID, you can keep your old one and still vote in more than one place so that doesn't even solve the problem.

I wish we had some kind of national database tied to social security numbers and that we could just vote online.

 

[Box of Kittens]

Walker sure did a number on Wisconsin. Thankfully he crashed and burned in the Presidential run.

It amazed me how many smart people were fooled into thinking he'd be a strong presidential candidate. Yeah he looked compelling on paper but all you had to do was scratch the surface to realize he was completely out of his depth.

His act has worn thin in Wisconsin now, but it'll take a long time to undo the damage he's done to the state, and between gerrymandering, poor midterm turnout, and a badly organized state Democratic party, it'll be an uphill climb.

 

[RDreamer]

Walker sure did a number on Wisconsin. Thankfully he crashed and burned in the Presidential run.

He's still doing a number on us. Just Thursday they blocked federal funding from getting to Planned Parenthood.

 

[DontBeThatGuy]

Scott Walker is in the pockets of the Kock Brothers, so it's no surprise he implements policies to fuck over poor people.

 

[the-pi-guy]

He's still doing a number on us. Just Thursday they blocked federal funding from getting to Planned Parenthood.

Our governor.

What a guy.

 

[RDreamer]

Our governor.

What a guy.

I really wish I could leave this state. Like really really. We're in for a fucking wakeup call real soon with all the shit he's doing and I really don't want to be here in a decade or so when we've fallen even further behind because of it.

 

[BitStyle]

That about sums it up

Freakin' ridiculous

 

[Iorv3th]

I mean I wouldn't count a Student ID card either. I know here you have to be living in the state for a year before you can vote, they do this so you can't vote in this state and previous state you lived in. If you say have a drivers license from California and you are attending university in WI you are probably still registered to vote in California.


I fully believe you should have to show some form of ID when you vote though. I can either bring my voter id card or just show them my drivers license and they can look it up on their computer and they ask if I still live at the same address etc. Simple. Don't even have to pay for voter id card, it gets mailed to me every year.

 

[Davey Cakes]

Voting rights, as an issue, has to be one of the more infuriating ones.

Anything to represent only a portion of the population, right? That sounds completely American. Land of the free and all that.

I appreciate Sanders' view on the issue. Turn 18? Okay, you're good to vote. Register once then done.

It should be that simple. It's completely transparent what restrictive voter ID laws are trying to accomplish.

I don't have a passport but I had my Massachusetts ID since 2004 and my driver's license as of a couple of years ago. I still have my old college ID. But, I've never even been asked to provide ID when visiting the polls so the issue has never hit home. I still find it outlandish for other areas of the country though.

 

[Squirrel Killer]

The election decided several mayoral contests and helped conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley clear a key hurdle to maintaining her seat on the state’s powerful Supreme Court.

While I agree that Voter ID laws hurt turnout and address an exceedingly minor issue for elections, Voter ID didn't "help" Bradley advance to the next election. The results for the Supreme Court race were:

• x-Rebecca Bradley (i) 245,293 - 45 percent
• x-JoAnne Kloppenburg 236,116 - 43 percent
• Joe Donald 65,110 - 12 percent

I highly doubt voter ID laws kept 9,178+ Kloppenburg voters AND 180,184+ Donald voters from turning out.

 

[Dougald]

I mean I wouldn't count a Student ID card either. I know here you have to be living in the state for a year before you can vote, they do this so you can't vote in this state and previous state you lived in. If you say have a drivers license from California and you are attending university in WI you are probably still registered to vote in California.


I fully believe you should have to show some form of ID when you vote though. I can either bring my voter id card or just show them my drivers license and they can look it up on their computer and they ask if I still live at the same address etc. Simple. Don't even have to pay for voter id card, it gets mailed to me every year.

Why, when voter fraud is essentially nonexistent?

 

[Yaboosh]

While I agree that Voter ID laws hurt turnout and address an exceedingly minor issue for elections, Voter ID didn't "help" Bradley advance to the next election. The results for the Supreme Court race were:

• x-Rebecca Bradley (i) 245,293 - 45 percent
• x-JoAnne Kloppenburg 236,116 - 43 percent
• Joe Donald 65,110 - 12 percent

I highly doubt voter ID laws kept 9,178+ Kloppenburg voters AND 180,184+ Donald voters from turning out.

What is your definition of the word help?

 

[RDreamer]

While I agree that Voter ID laws hurt turnout and address an exceedingly minor issue for elections, Voter ID didn't "help" Bradley advance to the next election. The results for the Supreme Court race were:

• x-Rebecca Bradley (i) 245,293 - 45 percent
• x-JoAnne Kloppenburg 236,116 - 43 percent
• Joe Donald 65,110 - 12 percent

I highly doubt voter ID laws kept 9,178+ Kloppenburg voters AND 180,184+ Donald voters from turning out.

Agreed. All in all that was kind of a useless election and I think everyone knew Bradley and Cloppenburg would advance. Hell, the only reason I actually voted in this election (that was the only thing I could vote on) was because I thought I'd get my registration at my new voting place done before the next primary.

 

[Box of Kittens]

Why, when voter fraud is essentially nonexistent?

This. Voter ID laws depress turnout. Not massively, but by enough to consider it a real drawback. The "problem" they ostensibly solve doesn't really exist. These laws are basically all cost and no benefit.

 

[Mass_Pincup]

No, you have to go to a DMV to get one, which in theory isn't that bad, until you realize that these states that are enforcing Voter ID laws, conveniently shut down a number of DMV offices in the name of "Cutting Cost". This results in people having to travel to other county/towns to get an ID.

On top of all that BS, DMV hours are unreasonable. Most are 9 to 5 Weekdays and some are even more asinine like opened every 5th Wednesday of the month.

Ah I see, thanks.

 

[Kenstar]

Let me show you how bad this is:

This is a ONE HUNDRED TWENTY SEVEN MILE LONG slice of Wisconsin

the ONLY place open on a sat (none on a sun) is the Madison east service center

Most of the local ones have arcane hours like wed. only, a couple work days a week, etc.

Hope you dont have a mon-fri job during those hours and need to do anything at a dmv, better drive your ass down 1-2 hours away to the only place open on a saturday

Old retired people have every 5th wednesday of the month or whenever the hell the smaller local ones are open to them, they can go anytime. People making enough money to come in late/take a day off can go in on a weekday and get stuff done. Now Imagine your working two jobs and need to go down to get valid ID to vote without missing work

 

[JayDotZee]

Voted ID laws aren't making sense.

The DATA says that fraud is next to nothing.
The DATA says that it only hurts, and does not help.

So what are you left with? Bullshit dumbfuckery for dumbfucks who intentionally want to move in the wrong direction on every level. Corruption is that you.

I don't know why these things surprise any of you, you have REGULATED BRIBERY, also know as "buy your own politician".

 

[ampere]

ITT many people say "well of course you should have ID while voting!" without thinking about the fact that it doesn't actually accomplish anything other than preventing poor people from voting

Tfw buying a gun is easier than voting.

sad times

 

[Kazerei]

I mean I wouldn't count a Student ID card either. I know here you have to be living in the state for a year before you can vote, they do this so you can't vote in this state and previous state you lived in. If you say have a drivers license from California and you are attending university in WI you are probably still registered to vote in California.


I fully believe you should have to show some form of ID when you vote though. I can either bring my voter id card or just show them my drivers license and they can look it up on their computer and they ask if I still live at the same address etc. Simple. Don't even have to pay for voter id card, it gets mailed to me every year.

If the person is registered, then why shouldn't a student ID card count? We're not looking at a situation where an unregistered person walks in to a polling station with just a student ID card, asking for a ballot. If the person is registered, their citizenship and place of residence has been verified. Really, there is no need to then ask for photo ID at the polling station. Any sort of document with name and address should be enough. That's how voting worked for decades, what was the problem? In theory somebody could impersonate a voter, but this form of voter fraud is pretty much non-existent.

 

[Davey Cakes]

I don't even understand why voter fraud, in the form of "pretending to be someone else" would even be an issue. Unless there are a bunch of frauds banding together and trying to vote more than once (lol) it wouldn't even have an effect worthy of the time required.

As Kazerei conveyed, once you're officially registered, you shouldn't need some strict form of ID. Any proof of residence should do the trick, and if a photo is absolutely necessary then something like a college ID should suffice as a supplement. But it shouldn't even be that much of a hurdle.

 

[GaimeGuy]

You dont understand. In europe we have a national id for identifiying ourself for every issue inside the country (age verification, opening accounts etc). And additionally you can get a passport if you need to identify yourself outside the country.
An national id is not a passport as it is only valid for identification in its own country. (Which i think can also make it cheaper, and its just a card and not a booklet which can hold visas).

There is no national identification system in the US. The closest thing we have is the Selective Service that all males are required to register for at age 18 (essentially in case the draft is ever brought back).

 

[Box of Kittens]

ITT many people say "well of course you should have ID while voting!" without thinking about the fact that it doesn't actually accomplish anything other than preventing poor people from voting

Voter ID laws are really easy to argue for in a way that makes intuitive sense even though the facts don't support them at all.

 

[SFenton]

1. Everyone should be required legal state ID to vote, no separate bullshit registration required.

2. Everyone should be given a free ID, either at the DMV or freely mailed.

3. Replacements of need be should be fairly priced and accesible to all.

4. If one loses thier ID, a social security card+passport can be a legal substitute.

I completely agree with this.

 

[RowdyReverb]

Am I correctly understanding that the subtext here is that suppressing voter turnout benefits conservative candidates? Why is this?

 

[Maxim726X]

Combine the SS card with a basic ID, which will be provided for every citizen at no cost.

Done. Now everyone should be able to vote.

Am I correctly understanding that the subtext here is that suppressing voter turnout benefits conservative candidates? Why is this?

Those affected by this requirement (low income voters) overwhelmingly vote Democrat.

It's a shitty tactic, but shouldn't be that surprising to the democratic party. That's why they should try to get some form of free national ID passed to get around it.

 

[demon]

Didn't Walker try a few years ago to close down several DMVs in the state along with his voter ID law... all DMVs in Democratic areas?

Walker is an evil fuck and I really hope he burns in hell. Can't believe we have to wait two and a half more years to try to vote his fucking ass out again.

Am I correctly understanding that the subtext here is that suppressing voter turnout benefits conservative candidates? Why is this?

The people for whom these voter ID laws make it harder to vote are overwhelmingly demographics that vote Democrat.

 

[Yaboosh]

Am I correctly understanding that the subtext here is that suppressing voter turnout benefits conservative candidates? Why is this?

It is the method of suppression.

This disproportionately affects the poor. The poor skew Democrat.

 

[M3d10n]

You know that thread about the concept of evil? Well, there it is!

Am I correctly understanding that the subtext here is that suppressing voter turnout benefits conservative candidates? Why is this?

It's suppressing minority and low income voter turnout which benefits conservative candidates.

 

[mugoldeneagle03]

I used to put up a fight with my girlfriend over moving out of the state. It's not even an argument anymore we're moving as soon as she finishes school.

Walker can go fuck himself. He has been and will ruin the state, and any chance of a city like Milwaukee to grow into the great city it could easily be.

What's worst is that racism is just getting worse and worse because of laws like this. And they'll defend it to the death. Won't bring up race at all but will always counter answer with "how hard is it to get an ID, if I can they can"

Fucking morons. And it's even worse when half of your family is redneck pieces of shit that eat this up.

Moving can't come soon enough

 

[RowdyReverb]

Combine the SS card with a basic ID, which will be provided for every citizen at no cost.

Done. Now everyone should be able to vote.



Those affected by this requirement (low income voters) overwhelmingly vote Democrat.

It's a shitty tactic, but shouldn't be that surprising to the democratic party. That's why they should try to get some form of free national ID passed to get around it.

Didn't Walker try a few years ago to close down several DMVs in the state along with his voter ID law... all DMVs in Democratic areas?

Walker is an evil fuck and I really hope he burns in hell. Can't believe we have to wait two and a half more years to try to vote his fucking ass out again.


The people for whom these voter ID laws make it harder to vote are overwhelmingly demographics that vote Democrat.

It is the method of suppression.

This disproportionately affects the poor. The poor skew Democrat.

You know that thread about the concept of evil? Well, there it is!



It's suppressing minority and low income voter turnout which benefits conservative candidates.

Why don't low-income individuals have IDs? Isn't it important to have an ID for interactions with the government? How else would you prove you are who you say you are?

 

[Wilsongt]

Why don't low-income individuals have IDs? Isn't it important to have an ID for interactions with the government? How else would you prove you are who you say you are?

Please let this be sarcasm...

 

[Yaboosh]

Why don't low-income individuals have IDs? Isn't it important to have an ID for interactions with the government? How else would you prove you are who you say you are?

Pick a situation and we can figure out someone without an id would prove who they say they are.

Getting an id is a higher burden for the very poor than those more well off. Access to transportation is lower, time off work to go to the DMV is lower, various monetary costs associated with an id are more burdensome.

 

[RowdyReverb]

Please let this be sarcasm...

Honestly curious. Haven't really given this issue much thought before. Unless your income is purely cash or under-the-table, don't you need an ID for work or government assistance?

 

[BradC00]

I don't even understand why voter fraud, in the form of "pretending to be someone else" would even be an issue. Unless there are a bunch of frauds banding together and trying to vote more than once (lol) it wouldn't even have an effect worthy of the time required.

one of the right wing conspiracies is that President Obama bussed immigrants/out of staters/muslims/terrorists/Canadians to poll stations to steal the election.

 

[Particle Physicist]

Nothing in that link answers any of my questions. Obviously, if I cared enough, I could go dig up voting records myself. But I don't. Neither, apparently, so Think Progress or OP. OP's claim, that this law *is* suppressing turnout, is poorly supported by this article. That article you linked shows a single Milwaukee voter being turned away for invalid ID. So we ask: 1) what percentage of voters make it to the polls but fail the ID test; 2) how many voters stayed home because they knew they didn't have IDs. We can't make any useful claims about suppression without answering both of those questions.

If just one person was turned away from voting even while having a legitimate ID but not a 'proper' ID, their votes was supressed. And that is one suppress vote too many. Statistics don't matter in this case.

 

[Maxim726X]

Honestly curious. Haven't really given this issue much thought before. Unless your income is purely cash or under-the-table, don't you need an ID for work or government assistance?

Fair question.

In most cases, no you do not. For example, if you're on EBT/food stamps, you merely have a card which you can use for purchases. No I.D. required. Many social programs work in a similar fashion.

As for I.D.s given by your place of employment (or student ID)- Those aren't accepted forms. Basically, they're looking for something from your local DMV or a passport. If you're poor, you may not drive. If you live in a major city, you may not drive. Asking for ID really does stratify along socioeconomic lines.

And honestly- I'm tired of people bitching about it. If I was a Republican running for office I would absolutely push for similar guidelines. This isn't a new tactic, and frankly I'm disappointed that this administration hasn't even attempted to address this. They've known about it for long enough, I would hope that they can figure out something that won't break the bank.

 

[Jmanunknown]

And honestly- I'm tired of people bitching about it. If I was a Republican running for office I would absolutely push for similar guidelines. This isn't a new tactic, and frankly I'm disappointed that this administration hasn't even attempted to address this. They've known about it for long enough, I would hope that they can figure out something that won't break the bank.

You cannot figure something out when republicans in the house and senate would fight anything the Obama administration proposed like they are fighting for their lives. The republicans are still fighting the affordable care act wasting tax payer money to do so. The republicans in the house and senate have done nothing but obstruct to historic levels and had the supreme court to back them up because it was a conservative majority.

 

[tkscz]

Hell, John Oliver brought this up before. It's not that simple and the people this does hurt are minorities especially Latinos. It's for a bullshit reason voter ID laws even exist. It's really just institutionalized racism and frankly anyone who think it should be compulsory is just a closest racist to me.

A bit far with that one when you consider that GAF has users outside the US where an ID might not be difficult to get for foreigners or they simply didn't think about foreign citizens voting. Yes, this is basically to keep foreign born US citizens from voting as it's not easy for them to get a legal state ID (even when they are 100% legal, they have to go through a shit ton of red tape). I can't think of another reason to prevent other forms of ID from being used.

 

[Team Alucard]

Pretty much the entire midwest is fucked, its not just Wisconsin. Minnesota was the only state to avoid a Tea Party takeover, and they only avoided it by 0.4%

Walker, Snyder, Rauner, Pence. All tea party goons. All disastrous for their states.

 

[Rivitur]

The purpose of voter ID laws is to keep the minorities from voting. It's a way to help keep those in lower in power positions. I can't think of one person who's been jailed for graveyard voting in the past 10 years.

 

[Maxim726X]

You cannot figure something out when republicans in the house and senate would fight anything the Obama administration proposed like they are fighting for their lives. The republicans are still fighting the affordable care act wasting tax payer money to do so. The republicans in the house and senate have done nothing but obstruct to historic levels and had the supreme court to back them up because it was a conservative majority.

Then at least bring a bill to floor and watch the Republicans try to justify something as simple as adding identification to the (already free) social security cards.

I would love to see an argument against that, even if just for shits and giggles.

 

[Box of Kittens]

Pretty much the entire midwest is fucked, its not just Wisconsin. Minnesota was the only state to avoid a Tea Party takeover, and they only avoided it by 0.4%

Walker, Snyder, Rauner, Pence. All tea party goons. All disastrous for their states.

As much as I hate the Illinois Legislature, they at least act as something of a check on Rauner. Walker, Snyder, and Pence all have rubber stamp legislatures at their disposal. That's not to say Illinois isn't a total mess though.