NYT editorial: Voter Suppression in Missouri

[DeepModem Mom]

Editorial
Voter Suppression in Missouri
Published: August 10, 2006

Missouri is the latest front in the Republican Party’s campaign to use photo ID requirements to suppress voting. The Republican legislators who pushed through Missouri’s ID law earlier this year said they wanted to deter fraud, but that claim falls apart on close inspection. Missouri’s new ID rules — and similar ones adopted last year in Indiana and Georgia — are intended to deter voting by blacks, poor people and other groups that are less likely to have driver’s licenses. Georgia’s law has been blocked by the courts, and the others should be too.

Even before Missouri passed its new law, it had tougher ID requirements than many states. Voters were required, with limited exceptions, to bring ID with them to the polls, but university ID cards, bank statements mailed to a voter’s address, and similar documents were acceptable. The new law requires a government-issued photo ID, which as many as 200,000 Missourians do not have.

Missourians who have driver’s licenses will have little trouble voting, but many who do not will have to go to considerable trouble to get special ID’s. The supporting documents needed to get these, like birth certificates, often have fees attached, so some Missourians will have to pay to keep voting. It is likely that many people will not jump all of the bureaucratic hurdles to get the special ID, and will become ineligible to vote.

Not coincidentally, groups that are more likely to vote against the Republicans who passed the ID law will be most disadvantaged. Advocates for blacks, the elderly and the disabled say that those groups are less likely than the average Missourian to have driver’s licenses, and most likely to lose their right to vote. In close elections, like the bitterly contested U.S. Senate race now under way in the state, this disenfranchisement could easily make the difference in who wins....

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/10/opinion/10thu1.html

[Selatius]

1. Jim Crow is coming back.

We should be damned if we allow Jim Crow to come back to life.

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. My 81 year old mother

Today is her birthday. Happy Birthday, Mom!!

She was born at home so she has no birth certificate. She hasn't driven in 10+ years and can't remember where she put her old drivers license or SS card. She used to have a passport but doesn't remember where she put it either.

She lives in a nursing home so she doesn't need IDs. But since she now lives in MO, she can't vote. Until March, she lived in KS. We would never have moved her to this nursing home in a different state had we known she would lose her right to vote.

My mother cries every time she sees me asking me how she can get registered to vote. This is just the most cruel piece of legislation. (Actually, the medicaid cuts in MO were crueler I guess) Point is, the repukes in MO are evil evil people. Hopefully, the ACLU's suit will get this law thrown out.

[DeepModem Mom]

3. Thanks for sharing your personal experience with this -- how awful! nt

[proud2BlibKansan]

4. It really is awful

Thank you for understanding. I have posted this story before and I am amazed by the DUers who can't believe my mother survives without ID. But honestly for 10 years now, we have paid her bills, bought her groceries (before we moved her to the nursing home) and took care of all her needs. She didn't need an ID for anything. She got old and forgetful and lost everything. Wouldn't have made a bit of difference if this damn voter ID hadn't passed.

She can vote with a provisional ballot and will think she is voting but we know her vote won't count.

It's a damn shame. My dad taught US History for 40 years and I know he is spinning in his grave right now, since my mom lost her right to vote.

[Broken_Hero]

7. my mother in law is about in the same boat

the only ID she has is a CDIB card, thank heavens it has a picture on the card...thats what she had to use to vote in the primaries the other day.

[Mabus]

29. I've got an old CDIB and a full size certificate

I've just never gone by the tribal complex to get a picture CDIB.

[Broken_Hero]

32. what tribe?

I see you are from kansas, potawotamie(I know I spelled it wrong), wichita?...

[Mabus]

34. Actually mom was born in Oklahoma

I'm more Arapaho (southern band) than Arapahoe (northern band). I'm enrolled in the Southern Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma.

[Broken_Hero]

37. okay, sweet...:)

another indian!...wooooooo hooo!... Not to many on the DU site...

[Mabus]

38. Not many of us

But we are here and working for the Democratic Party.

How about your mother-in-law? What tribe is she enrolled in?

[Broken_Hero]

39. she is Keetowah Band Cherokee

so is my wife(obviously!), and I'm Haida from SE Alaska... ever hear of haskell indian nations university, its up in lawrence kansas...

[Mabus]

40. Got two brothers who will have a table

I'll PM you their website.

on edit: one is heading out to Santa Fe for next week's show.

[SoCalDem]

9. I'm surprised that social security won;t help out

at some point in time she must have showed enough ID to satisfy them..and the passport office must have something on record for her.. I don;t think they ever "retire" a passport number..

But I do understand.. people age and just don;t need all those cards after a while..

I wish the democratic party would spend some of the gotv money to get IDs for people who have problems getting them..

in red-states it's too risky to hope for courts to overturn their pet laws...and sometimes just intimidation and long lines scare off older folks..

sometimes iit's just better to call their bluff and just get these folks IDs.. Probably most of them would like an easy to use ID anyway.. why not help them get one.?

[proud2BlibKansan]

11. The problem is we don't have supporting documentation that proves

she is who she is. We were told we could get a copy of her voters reg card from Kansas and that would work and then they decided no it wasn't an official ID. One offiical told me her tax return would work and another said no it won't.

And even if we do find a way to get a copy of her passport or whatever ID they decide is acceptable, that will cost $$. And any amount at all is a fucking poll tax. I have already spent money. And gee, I thought poll taxes were illegal.

[REP]

5. My Aunt and Mother, Both Born at Home, Have Birth Certificates

My aunt was born in 1922; my mother in 1934 (both at 41 and McGee in KC, MO!) and both were issued birth certificates. Hell, my grandparents, born in 1895 and 1896 in rural Kansas and Iowa had birth certificates! Maybe her birth wasn't registered, but being born at home, which was the norm in the 1920s, was common and not the reason she doesn't have a BC.

[proud2BlibKansan]

26. She has never had one

We have tried a couple times to get one for her and it was such a hassle we just gave up.

[Mabus]

30. My oldest uncles didn't have them

and they were born in a hospital in Kansas. My grandfather had one (born in Kansas) but my grandmother (born in Missourit) never did.

I remember one time when grandma needed to prove who she was and how old she was. I wasn't really paying attention at the time so I can't tell you why she needed to prove who she was. I was living with her but taking 22 hours in college and working as a waitress. I didn't pay attention to a lot of extraneous details at the time. Anyway, I do remember she was upset because they wouldn't accept the only ID she had, her social security card. All the utilities were still in my grandfather's name although he passed away in 1968, so they weren't any good. We found a copy of her marriage license, the family Bible, some old family photos, a grade card from grammar school and an old clipping announcing her marriage to my grandfather. I also remember my aunt and a couple of my uncles swore out some affidavits that she was their mom and to the best of their knowledge what her name and birthday were and where she was born. It was all settled after a few weeks and when I asked her about it later she rolled her eyes and said she tell me later. I got the impression she wasn't up to reliving it so I never pushed it.

[cornermouse]

8. I am suspicious that the governor (son of the Senator)

may be thinking about trying to go national in some as yet unknown position. He has hinted that he may not be running for Governor again. And although its not unknown for governors to meet with each other, I beleive he may have had a nice visit with Romney recently.

BTW to my recollection, this is the person who as Secretary of State told people who were registering voters on a door to door basis that they could throw away any voter registrations that they didn't approve of or something like that.

[MadHound]

10. The Boy Blunder isn't going anywhere soon, except back home

He has pissed off so many people, right, left and center, that he's going to be lucky to serve out his full term. If he runs for anything in this state, he's going to lose badly, people are that pissed. And with a Carnahan is the SoS slot for the next two elections, they should be relatively clean.

There is a lawsuit going hoping to overturn this law, and there is also a growing effort to go around and get IDs for people, a pre GOTV in a sense. I'm more worried about all of the touch screens popping up around the state, but like I said earlier, the Secretary of State is Robin Carnahan, and she won't allow any strange shennanigans.

So here in a couple of years we'll be turning back the tide in Missouri, and then we can undo all this damage that Matt Blunt and his buddies have done.

[madokie]

18. Happy Birthday Mother, you have a wonderful daughter

Yes, a lot of us take our freedom to vote series

[proud2BlibKansan]

25. Thanks friend!

[IndyOp]

22. !!!!!!!!!!

Karma, tragically, is not instant - but it WILL GET the MOFO's who make your elderly Mom cry!

Scum. They are scum. The scummiest, scummiest, scum.

[proud2BlibKansan]

28. Yes they really are scum

I couldn't agree more.

[KharmaTrain]

6. What The Hell Is A Voter Registration Card For Then???

This I never understood...here in Illinois we are issued a card from the county that I carry in my wallet that has all important voting information. It also has my signature...which is kept on file with the county board of elections and I always see every time I go to vote as they verify me. I've never had to present any other form of identification. And this is in Chicago...an area that once was the home of machine and voter fraud.

The bottom line is that most elections aren't stolen until AFTER the polls were closed. Yesterday I read of a Lemont poll watcher who thought the count in a precinct was improperly counted. Sure enough, the ballots were counted again and a new total, favoring Lamont, come out. The biggest problem with BBV is not that people can't or won't be allowed to vote, but its how that vote is counted (or not) when it was cast.

No doubt voter suppression is going to be a big arrow in the Repugnican quiver this year...and the more exposure we can shed on it before the election could mean nipping some of these tactic in the bud. The ultimate answer is to get trusted Democrats elected as Secretary of State or the head of the election commissions in as many states as we can. Ye who controls the machines, controls the power.

Cheers...

[IndyOp]

23. LINK PLEASE!! To the Lamont precinct recount. Thank you! (n/t)

[DeepModem Mom]

12. a.m. kick

[Xenotime]

13. Just the pugs trying to steal more elections

Same old tactics. We shouldn't be suprised.

[catmandu57]

14. This law isn't going to stand

There are two lawsuits now challenging it, it's a poll tax plain and simple on that alone it will be found unconstitutional, I only hope that it is struck down before November, still I'm making sure that everything is in order.

[warrens]

15. It's clearly unconstitutional

If you're a registered voter, it is your right, not a privilege, to vote. There are a few exceptions, but it's up to the officials at the precinct to prove you are not who you say you are. They can issue challenges, but generally, knowing where you are supposed to vote and appearing, and signing in, are enough to "prove" who you are. If someone at the poll believes that you are not who you say you are, there are plenty of challenges available.

[Neecy]

16. Where is the outrage?

Putting aside the issue of Diebold for a moment, the last two presidential elections were decided by openly and blatantly suppressing the African-American vote in Florida and Ohio.

And now this open and blatant legislation is popping up in GOP states around the country!

Isn't this the big elephant in the room that the corpo-whores in the media won't touch? I'm surprised the Times covered it at all.

[MadHound]

17. Oh the outrage is there alright

And actions are being taken in order to either eliminate this regressive law, or at least to mitigate its effects. The trouble is that it isn't getting national coverage(suprise suprise) and the local corporate news outlets are downplaying it. Still, there is a lawsuit going forward, and our Secretary of State, Robin Carnahan(daughter of the late Mel) is doing her best to mitigate the effects of this, sending out mobile ID stations, going to peoples' homes etc. to make sure they have the proper ID, free of charge.

Meanwhile protests are going on in the capital, we've even had Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton in state protesting, but again, due to the corporate controlled media you barely hear about it inside the state, much less outside of it.

[Neecy]

19. How can people get involved?

Do you know who's organizing the protests in Jeff City?

I'm in KC and have some time - I'm going to do some research on this today and start writing some LTTE, but I'd like to do more.

[MadHound]

20. I think that the NAACP is taking the lead on this one

At least that was who was out front on the Jeff City protest a few weeks ago. I would contact your local chapter. You also might contact SoS Robin Carnahan and see if she knows a way for you to help out. I'm pretty certain that they're staffing the mobile ID stations with volunteers, so if you have a few spare days, get on the bus and get people signed up.

[Neecy]

21. Will do.

Thanks!

[proud2BlibKansan]

27. If your state rep is a Dem, contact him/her

They are collecting stories and trying to combat this.

[starroute]

24. Missouri has been a center of this crap

About a year ago, there was a flap concerning something called the "American Center for Voting Rights," which had been cooked up out of nowhere following the 2004 election in order to push the fake "voter registration fraud" meme as a way of taking attention away from the very real problem of election fraud.

One of the two people running ACVR was Mark F. (Thor) Hearne, a St. Louis lawyer and general counsel to Missouri Governor Matt Blunt. Hearne had also been Missouri counsel to Bush-Cheney '00 (during which he was involved in the Florida recount), was invited in 2003 to repeat the job by W's uncle, "Bucky" Bush (a Missouri resident and former fraternity mate of Porter Goss and John Negroponte), and wound up as the national election counsel to Bush-Cheney '04.

After the 2000 election, Hearne was active in pushing claims of widespread voting "irregularities" in St. Louis in 2000 -- claims of thousands of potentially fraudulent votes, which pretty much dribbled away to nothing when examined more closely. He also testified before Congressman Ney's committee in April 2005, accusing the NAACP of having attempted to register Dick Tracy and Mary Poppins in Defiance Co., OH.

Despite never really having the facts behind them, Hearne and his cohorts have been able to scream loudly enough to get voter ID laws like this one passed. And given Hearne's prominence in this scam, it's not really surprising that Missouri would be a particularly noxious example.

[freedomfries]

31. K & R

[wildflowergardener]

33. Info for people who can not obtain birth certificates born before 1930

Still a pain, but it might be possible.

http://www.dor.mo.gov/mvdl/drivers/idrequirements.htm#e...

Special Considerations for Applicants Born 1930 or Before
NOTE: Missourians age 65 or older who are renewing a driver license or nondriver license are NOT required to show proof of lawful presence. This exemption does not pertain to those obtaining a new license.

U.S. Citizens born 1930 or before who wish to obtain a Missouri driver license or nondriver license and are unable to obtain a government-issued birth certificate may provide the following:

A certified "No Record Statement" from your state of birth plus two supporting documents (listed below). In Missouri, a certified "No Record Statement" may be obtained from Vital Statistics, the same agency that provides certified birth certificates. This verifies that there is no birth record on file.
Supporting documents include, but are not limited to, military records, child's birth certificate (hospital records are not acceptable), baptismal record, insurance policy, social security numident, school records, and employment records, etc. The supporting documents should list the applicant’s name, place of birth, date of birth or age at the time the document was issued. Each document does not need to have all of the preceding information but the department needs sufficient information to establish place and date of birth. For example, Military Discharge Papers stating that Mr. John Brown was discharged on March 25, 1945, would not be sufficient since the document does not include Mr. Brown’s place of birth.
Fax the documents to [phone] or mail copies to the Show Me Proof Review Panel, Department of Revenue, P.O. Box 200, Jefferson City, MO 65101-0200.
A response will be provided within 2 weeks of our receipt of the documents. You may call [phone] with any questions.
All other "Show Me Proof" requirements for proof of identity and proof of residency still apply.

[proud2BlibKansan]

35. This is great information

Thank you!

[jasperdog]

36. I'm not surprised this is happening

Blunt is a nightmare of a governor. One of the first things he did in office was to cut the Medicaid eligibility of thousands of disabled and/or poor Missourians and the republicans in the Missouri house and senate have gone along with everything. The voter photo ID is just one example of how they are trying to make sure that the elderly, black and poor folks who typically vote for democrats won't be allowed to vote. The Missouri Democratic Party is fighting the law in court calling it "unpatriotic and unconstitutional."

I live in Northeast Missouri which has alot of low-income people, elderly people and farmers and the majority of them vote republican. It makes me sick! They are voting against their own interests but have bought into the so called "moral values" of the Republican party. As if Jim Talent, Kit Bond or the republican congressmen they voted for actually give a damn about them!