Kevin nails this one on a couple of levels. Whenever Republicans are interested in voting--just think--Voter suppression and ignorance in the way in w
September 24, 2006

Kevin nails this one on a couple of levels. Whenever Republicans are interested in voting--just think--Voter suppression and ignorance in the way in which many Americans live.

kevin Drum:

PICTURE IDs....Stephen Bainbridge is unhappy over Democratic opposition to voter ID requirements:

You can't do anything in this country anymore without a photo ID. You can't drive. You can't fly. You can't cash a check, except maybe at the sleaziest places. You can't get a job. But you can vote, as long as the Democrats get their way. I guess voter fraud is a core part of the Democratic plan for victory.

But guess what? Outside of Westwood lots of people don't do these things! And they overwhelmingly tend to be poor, non-white, elderly, and disabled. It's funny that a Republican-backed bill in the closing days of an election would just happen to target these groups, isn't it?

Now, as near as I can tell, the evidence is pretty overwhelming that requiring photo ID to vote would stop a very, very tiny amount of actual fraud, but would disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of poor, non-white, elderly, and disabled citizens. So: no actual serious problem solved, but lots of Democratic-leaning voters kept at home. Hard to believe that Democrats oppose this, isn't it?

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