So which state do you live in that is restricting voting?

[MindMover]

Thirty-one states require all voters to show ID before voting at the polls. In 15 of these, the ID must include a photo of the voter; in the remaining 16, non-photo forms of ID are acceptable. Voter ID laws can be broken down into the three following categories:
Strict Photo ID (8 states): Voters must show a photo ID in order to vote. Voters who are unable to show photo ID at the polls are permitted to vote a provisional ballot, which is counted only if the voter returns to election officials within several days after the election to show a photo ID. At the beginning of 2011, there were just two states--Georgia and Indiana--with strict photo ID laws. Two states--Kansas and Wisconsin--passed new strict photo ID laws in 2011, and three states with non-photo ID laws--South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas--amended them to make them strict photo ID laws. None of these new laws is in effect yet, although they likely will be before the 2012 elections. Also in 2011, Mississippi voters approved via the citizen initiative process a strict photo ID requirement. The legislature will have to pass implementing legislation before the requirement can take effect. See the notes below Table 1 for more information regarding effective dates for new legislation.
Photo ID (7 states): Voters are asked to show a photo ID in order to vote. Voters who are unable to show photo ID are still allowed to vote if they can meet certain other critieria. In some states, a voter with ID can vouch for a voter without. Other states ask a voter without ID to provide personal information such as a birth date, or sign an affidavit swearing to his or her identity. Voters without ID are not required to return to election officials after the election and show a photo ID in order to have their ballots counted in the manner that voters without ID in the strict photo ID states are. The seven states with photo ID laws are Alabama, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, Michigan and South Dakota.
Non-Photo ID (16 states): All voters must show ID at the polls. The list of acceptable IDs is varied and includes options that do not have a photo, such as a utility bill or bank statement with the voter's name and address. Rhode Island passed a new voter ID law in 2011. It takes effect in stages -- beginning in 2012, voters will be required to show an ID (although not necessarily a photo ID) at the polls, and in 2014 a photo ID requirement will take effect.

http://www.ncsl.org/legislatures-elections/elections/voter-id-state-requirements.aspx

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Everyone should be aware of what is happening to our voting rights.....remember the chads in Florida....

[rocktivity]

1. It leaves me living in a state of moral outrage.

rocktivity

[ananda]

2. Texas

Voter ID
Worst redistricting gerrymandering ever, sooo bad.

[appleannie1]

3. I live in PA. At present we do not have a voter ID law but our Republican Congress and TeaParty gov

are working at top speed to get one in place before November. What they will probably do is wait until the last minute insuring that people do not have time to apply and receive ID. The main reason is the cities and suburbs of Philly, Pittsburgh and Erie is where most of the black and poor voters in the state live. They are also the most Democratic and the people less likely to have a driver's license or acceptable photo ID.

[Hawaii Hiker]

13. Voter ID close to passing in PA

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12068/1215249-454.stm#ixzz1oVTeDd1L

[xxqqqzme]

4. California requires no ID.

I have worked the polls for a few years - poll workers are required to take classes before they can work an election. The very first thing taught is DO NOT ask for ID. The second thing is EVERY PERSON showing up to vote, GETS TO VOTE. If there is a question, they get a provisional ballot. Keep people moving through the polling place. The Registrar of Voters will sort out any questions (that's what they are paid to do).

Occasionally, a registered voter will come through and there will be a note by the name (more often than not it is an 18 yr old voting for the first time and an address verification is needed). But no one is denied their right to vote.

[Retrograde]

10. California also encourages voting by mail

No questions asked - all you have to do is request a mail ballot, and you can sign up to be a permanent mail voter if you want. But then, we do have a Democratic Secretary of State.

[HockeyMom]

5. Florida

If you look at who are the Governors in these states, you will see they are Repukes.

[csziggy]

11. Same here and it started in what 2004?

2004 or 2008 there was a voter ID law. The Supervisor of Elections here in my county told the legislature there was no need, but they passed it anyway.

[TexasProgresive]

6. Texas- what ananda said- See this chart

And the photo ID is not free in Texas - $15.00

[Laura PourMeADrink]

12. Go, Justice Department ! Strike it down ! nt

[thelordofhell]

7. Identification please?

Required in AZ

[lonestarnot]

22. And if brown, keep your birth certificate handy.

[proudlibgal24]

8. New York?

Is New York restricting?

[MindMover]

9. no voter law yet, but your legislature has 3 id laws pending....go get em....

[bigwillq]

14. Hmm. I never knew CT didn't require a photo.

I always thought they did because I just always show my driver's license. I guess they're just verifying the address.

You really do learn something every day!


Thanks for this thread!

[Shannon1981]

15. South Carolina.

but not surprising. Its like 1865 here these days.

[GoCubsGo]

27. Me, too.

It's been like 1865 as long as I have lived here, and that's going on 25 years.

[HopeHoops]

16. PA - it's a clusterfuck so weird that no court has accepted it as legitimate.

The 2012 election will be based on the existing map because there's no way to justify the bullshit in the new one. And yes, the new one was drawn by Republicans.

[Cosmocat]

19. Pa has to the most gerrymandered state in the country

the conservative estimate is that the state has 800,000 more registered Ds than Rs, but the state senate has a near mortal lock 10 seat advantage - and yes, SOMEHOW the proposed redistricting would have further pushed the republican advantage.

They just HATE that they can't game statewide elections the same as they can the congressional and state senate makeup.

[HopeHoops]

21. Yeah, the Dauphin, Cumberland, Perry, and Adams horseshoe was about the worst.

[Cosmocat]

24. And, let me tell you the "dirty" secret

first, the bizarre five person group designated to do it, just is beyond any reason.

BUT, the incumbant Ds will never REALLY do anything about it, either, cause it secures their jobs, just the same.

[HopeHoops]

26. Well, the Rs are stuck with the old map for now. A judge threw out the new bullshit one.

The horseshoe district would have spanned four counties and driving it end to end would take 158 miles of roadway. That's just NOT right. It was all to protect Piccola's seat.

[Cosmocat]

28. You know its bad when judges step in and nixes it

I think it was a court of several judges, and there was even an R who sided with nixing it.

I THINK that is what it was.

[HopeHoops]

29. I honestly don't remember. I've read a bunch of articles on gerrymandering, including PA...

... in recent months and they sort of blur together. Either way, the horseshoe was one of the worst ever conceived. The entire purpose of it was to move Harrisburg into a solidly blue area and replace it with segments of rural and very red areas. I don't think anybody liked it.

[Bluenorthwest]

17. Here in Oregon we don't go to polling places at all, we like to make it easy....

Our last special election saw a new way to include more Oregonians in the election process.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/17/us/oregon-tries-out-voting-by-ipad-for-disabled.html

[RebelOne]

18. Yes, here in Georgia, you must show a photo ID. n/t

[greymattermom]

20. Medicare card?

Many of the voters who don't have a picture ID are seniors who no longer drive. Why not amend these laws to allow a medicare card as acceptable? You have to go through some hoops to get one. Unfortunately, it's not a photo ID card, but it is government issued.

[socialist_n_TN]

23. Tennessee............

Also home of the "Roadkill Law" and "Don't Say Gay". The stoopid is constant around here. I would say that Nashville isn't so bad, but the state legislature IS in here for several months out of the year. That brings the city's overall IQ down a few points right there.

[nonpareil]

25. Vote By Mail is the Answer!

I live in Oregon and love vote by mail. I wish that we could get vote by mail initiatives on the ballots in as many of these states as possible. Vote by mail eliminates most of the barriers to voting (inadequate hours and numbers of polling places in poor and minority neighborhoods, bogus voter challenges, dicey voting machines) and renders moot these ID laws. It offers the security of paper ballots that can be recounted by hand, if need be. It also means that you can get all the campaign phone calls etc to stop as soon as you send in your ballot. If the laws were drafted to do things the way that we do here in Oregon, people could either drop off their ballots at election offices,libraries, etc. or put them in the mail. The only change I would make from the way Oregon does things is that I would make using your own stamp optional and have the state pay the postage on the others. Vote by mail eliminates discrimination-it doesn't matter what color, gender or social status that the voter is-the envelopes all look the same.

[RebelOne]

30. That works.

I did it during the 2008 elections here in Georgia.