CA: (San Diego Co.) Supervisors asked to endorse tougher voting laws

NC Times ^ | 9/21/04 | Gig Conaughton

[NormsRevenge]

SAN DIEGO ---- County supervisors today could ask the state to toughen election laws by requiring people to show proof that they are U.S. citizens when they register to vote and identification at the polls before being allowed to vote.

Under current law, people are not required to show proof of citizenship, and only first-time voters who register by mail are required to show identification ---- which does not have to include a photograph ---- at the polls.

Supervisor Bill Horn, who recommended the Board of Supervisors petition the state to change state voting laws, said having to show birth certificates or passports when registering and photographic identification at the polls would prevent voter fraud.

However, some civil rights groups said the proposed changes could intimidate some voters and drive down voter registration and participation, which state officials say is among the lowest in the country.

Today, supervisors will specifically consider passing a resolution supporting the Federal Election Integrity Act of 2004 and sending a letter to California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley pushing for tougher registration requirements.

The federal bill, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., and 21 other U.S. representatives, calls for the same identification requirement changes for federal elections, but not state elections, and is currently in the House Administration Committee.

County Registrar Sally McPherson said Monday that because current law does not require proof of citizenship, people registering to vote are simply asked to check a box, "under penalty of perjury," testifying that they are U.S. citizens. But McPherson said election officials do not check to verify citizenship.

Horn said asking each potential voter to show an identification card that includes a photograph should not be looked upon as a burden.

"I don't think that's too much of an imposition," Horn said. "When you go down to the local store and rent a video you have to show an ID. Voting, to me, is a lot more important than cashing a check."

Officials from the Republican Party of San Diego County also said they felt the changes were "reasonable." San Diego County Democratic Party officials said Monday that they had no position on the issue.

However, Nancy Sasaki, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the proposed changes could intimidate some minority voters who fear "racial profiling" and older voters who no longer have identification such as driver licenses. She said those fears could keep them from voting.

"You could create doubt in people's minds if they would be acceptable," Sasaki said, "and they could think, 'Well, why should I even bother to hassle with another bureaucracy?' "

Steve Blackledge of the California Public Research Interest Group said the changes could also hurt voter registration.

"It's just another barrier in terms of voting," he said. "We should be doing more to encourage people to vote."

[EggsAckley]

"It's just another barrier in terms of voting," he said. "We should be doing more to encourage people to vote."

Oh yes. Encourage them to vote early and vote often. Who cares if they're citizens? < /sarcasm>

Howdy Norm!

[Logical me]

"It's just another barrier in terms of voting," he said. "We should be doing more to encourage people to vote."

Maybe Steve Blackledge should be thinking about legal US citizens only allowed to vote. What is wrong with that. No more dead voters, illegals, etc.

[NormsRevenge]

Hi Eggs!

I regret that I have but one vote to cast for my candidates and ballot measures... But I'm working on it. ;-)

[John Jorsett]

However, some civil rights groups said the proposed changes could intimidate some voters and drive down voter registration and participation, which state officials say is among the lowest in the country.

If they're taht easily intimidated, maybe there's a reason. I'll bet certain people are 'intimidated' into not flying becuase ID is required. I bet certain people are 'intimidated' into not driving because ID is required. If having to prove that you're eligible to vote before doing so intimidates you, tough.

[John Jorsett]

This is the first that I've heard that ID is required when registering to vote by mail. Periodically, I hear tales of people registering their pets, so how's this IDing work? Can I pull a CBS and type up my ID in Word, photocopy it 15 times, and it'll be good enough?

[Amerigomag]

Too much common sense in this article. Too many "freedoms" denied to foreign nationals that were discovered to be lurking in our constitution by the army of progressive federal judges that flowed from the Roosevelt administration so many years ago.

Let's just give the southwestern US to Mexico's poor. They can't screw it up any worse than we have in the past 30 years.

Under at least a half dozen administrations of all political stripes we've managed to seriously overpopulate the region, have diminished or destroyed many of its natural resources, paved 5% of its land surface and burned down most of its original forests. Even the native population is shaking their heads at the European intruders.

Today we appear hell bent to accelerate the overpopulation of the region with poorly educated and generally unproductive yet prolific peoples that we've invited from afar because they have destroyed the natural balance in their native land and are now mired in a cycle of poverty without hope which has garnered our collective pity.

[ibbryn]

So the people that are afraid to vote because id will be required are also afraid to rent videos because id is required? They don't get library books? Don't cash checks? Never fly? No bank accounts?

[Oatka]

". . . and older voters who no longer have identification such as driver licenses."

BALONEY. They can apply for a non-driving ID at any DMV. Most states, if not all, have this option for people who need an ID to cash checks, etc.

From the Calif. DMV website:
Identification (ID) cards
DMV issues ID cards to persons of any age. The ID card looks like a driver license, but is used for identification purposes only. A regular ID card is valid for six years, and a senior citizen ID card is valid for 10 years. To qualify for a senior citizen ID card, you must be age 62 or older.
How to apply for or renew an identification (ID) card
DMV issues two types of ID cards. A regular ID card valid for six years, and a senior citizen ID card valid for 10 years. To qualify for a senior citizen ID card, you must be age 62 or older.
To apply for an ID card you will need to do the following:
* Visit a DMV office (make an appointment for faster service)
* Complete application form DL 44 (An original DL 44 form must be submitted. Copies will not be accepted.)
* Give a thumb print
* Have your picture taken
* Provide your social security number. It will be verified with the Social Security Administration while you are in the office.
* Verify your birth date and legal presence (you may use your California driver license) Aye, there's the rub - Oatka
* Pay the $20 application fee. There is no fee for a senior citizen ID card.