Here’s how you can do it.
- Manage the creation of Voter ID cards. This can be accomplished by setting up temporary voter registration sites throughout the state, especially in impoverished neighborhoods.
- Make the new Voter ID card free. That’s right, free. That way you can’t disenfranchise ANYONE.
- Hire additional poll workers to staff registration booths at each local precinct on election day to include ID card machines. As long as those intending to vote can provide the same proper identification as before SCOTUS upheld the Voter ID decision, let them get a Voter ID card with picture.
Now this kind of plan is going to piss off the folks that wanted Voter ID in the first place, but I totally understand that. When your goal is to make the whole process harder for the poor and poverty-stricken, then the upholding of this decision by the Supreme Court allows you to realize that goal. My plan aims to make it easier for the citizens of Indiana to get those ID cards. I don’t think I need to mention that original bill was sponsored by Republicans.
The problem with the original legislation is NOT that it requires ID. See, that’s a nice little fable that Republicans use to make it seem that Democrats want anybody to be able to vote whether they can legally or not. But, alas, that’s not the case. Our (read Democrats’) problem with this legislation is two-fold:
- It costs money to get a State or Federal ID card. Those with limited incomes sometimes can’t afford it. For example, here in Wisconsin, a new State ID or Drivers License costs $28.
- People with limited incomes often have no transportation to get them to DMV sites to obtain an ID card in the first place.
What I try to accomplish with my plan is to eliminate those two burdens on the populace. Plain and simple. I have no problem with requiring ID that ensures you are who you say you are, thus limiting the possibility of voter fraud, but the law as written will disenfranchise a hell of a lot of voters who traditionally happen to vote Democrat. But I guess the Republicans who sponsored and voted for this bill don’t really give a damn about that.
