Ohio bill would require photo ID at the polls

Source: Columbus Dispatch/AP

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - A state House panel is considering a bill that would require Ohio voters to show a photo ID before they can cast a ballot.

Republican Rep. Louis Blessing of Cincinnati tells the Dayton Daily News the legislation would keep people from trying to vote more than once. Blessing is a sponsor of the bill, which will be before the House State Government and Elections Committee on Tuesday.

Read more: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2011/03/22/22-voter-id-bill.html?sid=101

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http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Liberal-Ohioan/195130570504421

.... than once. This is a phony ass argument so the republicans can stop people who
tend not to vote their way from voting. Even without a photo I.D. you might be able to
go to different polls and vote provisionally but those votes WOULD NOT be counted.


God, I really hate this group of thugs they has taken power in my state .... BTW there are more
registered dems then repugs in the state so voter suppression is one of the major keys in the
state G.O.P.'s election plans.

Even if a person does late absentee voting we get a print out of those people and list it on the Signature book. Once there is a signature on the books you can't vote again. I have never heard of someone trying to vote twice in Ohio. We have had occasion of an absentee voter coming to the polling station and wanting to vote because they did not send in their ballot but we tell them that they need to deliver the completed absentee ballot to the Board of Elections before the closing time of the polling stations.

What a heap of BS.

This bill is about stopping something that does not happen ...... if you vote early you are logged as
of already voting in the polling book. If you vote one time @ your precinct on election day you can not vote again
in that precinct but if you want to waste your time you go go to another precinct and demand to vote
a provisional ballot and not show an I.D. that proves you voted in your right precinct and that vote would
be flagged as a provisional ballot and be kicked out of the vote total as soon as it gets to the board of
elections. They (BOEs) have these things called computers.

This is all about voter suppression ..... because some people do not have photo I.D.s and the utility bill,
paycheck, or bank statement which supports the voter's right to be able to vote ..... the people stopped
will be > 95% democrat.

This a phony non story that is being whipped up into something that was in the past or now a problem in
Ohio. Just like the phony ACORN stories which in Ohio produced ZERO fraudulent votes in 2008 but in the
isolated world of the right wing Fox Watching / TeaBagging / Rush Listening / Home Schooling / Mouth Breathing
Fundy Idiots the idea that those N***ers are getting rock cocaine and $25.00 to be bussed in by union run buses
from Detroit to flip Ohio's elections still sells.

Here in Nebraska, they ask for your name, find it in the book and have you sign. Given that voter turnout is usually 20-25%, someone could potentially have a 3 in 4 chance of saying they are somebody they aren't and voting. I assume it is rare, but that appears to be what they are using as a basis - NOT someone voting twice with their name.

I could vote in my precinct, then drive to my brother-in-law's precinct and vote under his name. Nobody would know, 'cause he never bothers to vote.

Disclaimer - I haven't done this, don't plan to do this. It isn't worth the gas I'd burn.

:hi:

see post 23.

If there was something to compare it to. Getting an old utility bill from the brother-in-law's desk would be no problem.

I don't remember showing any ID at all in Michigan, no license, no utility bill. Just fill out the little form and hand it to the poll-worker. They put a check mark next to my name on the precinct list, and that's all.

Maybe things will tighten up, now that we have a very Republican governor.

That's what everyone else thinks, and that's the reason voting without ID has worked and continues to work just fine in many jurisdictions.

we require a valid government photo ID or a utility bill with their name and address on it. I have worked the same polling station since 2005 and the polling judges, for the most part, know the residents of the precinct. Also we look at the scanned signature vs. the one they enter in the polling book when they vote. In the precinct that I work there is one person who's signature really does not match but he has a valid photo ID and we know him. I also see these people in town on occasion. I have never seen any fraud at the polling station I work at except for one incidence. The guy was voting in the primary in 2008 and was a registered republican. In Ohio you can change your party affiliation up to and including the day of the election as long as you complete a Form 10X from the SOS. He made only one mistake. He told me he wanted to change his party affiliation so he could screw up the election. This was the time that Limpballs had his Operation Chaos going. Per Ohio law you have to have a legitimate reason to change party affliction and screwing up the election is not one of them. I told the gentleman that if he took a Democratic Party ballot I would inform the BOE of the situation and he would get a visit from the County Prosecutor since it was a class 4 felony in Ohio to interfere with an election. He decided to take a republican ballot. There is more to this story but I hope you get the point.

Voter fraud is so rare. What is more of a concern is election fraud (Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004). This is a simple case of voter suppression!

There is no wide-spread voter fraud here--this is an attempt to keep the poor out of the polls and/or make the Tea Party nutsos feel that they have done something. Waste of frickin' time....

If they don't have ID, they have to vote provisionally and those are checked before they are counted.

Idiots and thugs.

My Congressional Rep. is Jean Schmidt. Yeah, what a joke! At least she finally took that ridiculous bow out of her hair.

Governor MITCH DANIELS was way ahead of the other states that are taking employee rights, voting rights, "renting infrastructure to foreign companies, etc...
He is Bush's ex budget director. He (his money inundated the state) made every state employee quit the Union as his first official act as Governor.
That is why I jumped from the frying pan, into the fire (TN).

ugly

that was in Ohio. I don't know if they were trying to stop us or not but the address wasn't our current one and the Motor Vehicles now sends you a post card that you keep in your billfold to pull out if you need to vote or show your true address. We had one heck of a time voting but we managed to do it and yes this is a BIG Repub county!

Unfortunately, only members can access- but it's there under "Elections & Ethics". The Ohio Republicans, just like the Wisconsin Republicans, are't smart enough to come up with this stuff on their own. They do get to stroke their egos by introducing it, though.

http://www.alec.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=PublicSafetyandElectionsModelLegislation

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x591230

to points out (in the quote from Wikipedia).

Under current law, a utility bill or a vehicle registration card works fine.

"Acceptable forms of identification include the following:

* Virginia voter identification card
* Valid Virginia driver's license
* Military ID
* Any Federal, state or local government-issued ID
* Employer issued photo ID card
* Social Security card

Any voter who forgets to bring acceptable ID to the polls may still vote but, will be requested to sign, under oath, an Affirmation of Identity form affirming that he/she is the voter he/she claims to be. A voter who requires assistance to vote by reason of physical disability or an inability to read or write may, if he so requests, also be assisted in completing this statement."

http://www.sbe.virginia.gov/cms/Voter_Information/Voter_ID_Requirements_in_Virginia.html

When you vote they ask for your name and address and check it against the list. I have no problem with that.

:hi:

but i'm a permanent absentee voter (they mail me my ballot every election --though i can still go and vote at the polls on election day if I prefer).

what should be done about me, a permanent absentee voter?

Even to vote provisionally you have to show a driver's license. Absentee ballots obviously work different.

Jim Crow is from Ohio?????


Can you say "unconstitutional"?

What's the problem? Are Democrats less likely to have ID's?

In the list of things to be upset about, this seems petty.

Yes, the poor and the elderly in some cases don't have photo I.D.s .... the current
Ohio law lets them use a utility bill or bank statement to vote ..... although the #
is small it is part of the republicans being the minority but being able to skim off
and stop enough votes to keep power.

It's almost inconceivable to me that people can live in this modern society without an ID, but I guess some manage to do it.

How do the poor/elderly ever cash a check? Open a bank account? Travel?

Seems impossible.

...must be obtained at the same place you get a driver's license. There is a nominal cost, which might not be so nominal if one is on a fixed income (see below). I had to take my elderly mom in to get one, as she didn't drive any more and her driver's license was long expired.

I'm not sure how the database is hooked up, but she was divorced during WWII and married my dad in 1946. Somehow the database picked that up, as her maiden name didn't go directly to the last name of my dad because of the other brief marriage. We had a semi-hassle getting it completed that day. I told them I had gone on the state website and had brought in what the website required and they allowed it. My mom was using a walker to get in there as it was, and it isn't easy for old folks to wait in line. We finally got them to make her the ID. However it expires this October. Hopefully, the fact that she has one now will alleviate the problem the next time around (assuming she's still here in October).

http://www.bmv.ohio.gov/state_id_card.stm - here are the requirements
http://www.bmv.ohio.gov/fees_for_services.stm - here is the fee list ($8.50 for new or renewal)

When I had to apply for Medicaid for her, they required copies of her divorce papers, and I had to go down to the courthouse to get all of that. I also had to get copies of her marriage certificate for the brief marriage from a little county in Pennsylvania where she was married. Believe me, it isn't easy getting all the paperwork for the elderly, as it was not computerized back then.

When I go to vote in Ohio I have to sign the book and show my driver's license. I believe there's a photocopy in the book of my previous signature for comparison. Applications for absentee ballots are usually printed in the local newspaper, although I'm not sure if that has changed. My mom has always been able to get an absentee ballot with no problem.

Our new governor is really trying to ride roughshod over the people of Ohio. I hope he pisses off all the Repugs who voted for him in the last election enough to NOT vote for him again in the next one.

That's how it is in most European countries from what I understand. Most people wouldn't care because they already have a driver's license, but if you could set up some system where one could apply at some state office for an ID and get mailed one for free, it wouldn't be all that unfair. I doubt the bill sets up such a system though.

:sarcasm:

If anyone doesn't understand this, it's all about making it more work for the elderly, the poor, minorities, etc. to vote. If it becomes enough of a hassle they'll just say "screw it" and not vote. It's a pretty safe bet that people in the situation of not having a driver's license are more likely to vote for Democrats, so the Publicans want them to stay home.

But I don't know what happens if you don't have one.