[Tfug] tfug Digest, Vol 105, Issue 12 RE: ID requirement

[shanna leonard]

I used to volunteer with old and disabled people - Helping them to get 
to the polls to vote. Let me just say that a requirement for an ID has 
made it harder for them to vote at the polls, and amounts to a kind of 
poll tax for people who don't drive, and don't have much spending cash 
due to disability or age.

The reality is that if you are disabled (ie for example cerebral palsy) 
your brain can be very sharp and you are perfectly capable of voting.
However, you may live in an assisted living apartment because you may 
have difficulty cooking, cleaning etc, and you only have about $90 a 
month for discretionary spending because your disability goes to 
assisted living. You do not have a drivers license. You now have to get 
a government ID to vote.

The cost for a ride to/ from the DMV and the fee for the ID could set 
you back a whole month's discretionary cash. This is equivalent to 
someone at average income having to pay maybe $1000 to get it.

When there was a poll tax in southern states it was deemed 
unconstitutional.  You are not supposed to have to pay to vote.

The big irony with all this in Arizona is that the requirement for ID is 
waived if you do a mail in ballot. How silly is that?

If someone here believes that "Voter Fraud" (organized illegal voting) 
as opposed to "Election Fraud"(organized manipulation of election 
results on the part of someone with access to the ballots) really exists 
beyond a random level (ie there is any chance it has had any effect on 
the outcome of an election), I would like to read about the 
documentation of this example.



-- 
Shanna Leonard
ssl at email.arizona.edu