Posted on 05/10/2006 12:41:11 PM PDT by mathprof
"Vote early -- and often." We hear this quip every time an election rolls around, and with good reason: Electoral fraud is as old as the ballot box itself and still happens in the United States. Just last year a judge in Washington state ruled that some 1,678 illegal votes were cast in its 2004 election -- more than enough to change the outcome of the governor's race.
Few concepts matter more in a republican democracy than the credibility of "one person, one vote." Yet no nationwide standard exists to prevent fraud at the voting booth.
Some states, including Virginia, sensibly demand photo identification before allowing someone to vote. Neighboring Maryland, meanwhile, is heading in the opposite direction. A new state law there will let anyone cast a provisional ballot anywhere in the state -- a move that could allow one person to vote in several different places on the same day.
At the end of Election Day, "Nothing is more important than the integrity of elections -- not even defeating the Republicans in November." And don't take my word for it; those are the words of Blair Lee IV, the Democratic commentator who ran his father's successful 1980 gubernatorial campaign in Maryland.
To prevent fraud in elections, the federal government should set some minimum standards. After all, the Constitution gives states the initial power to establish the "times, places and manner" of holding elections, but it specifically permits Congress to change those election procedures.
A good first step would be to require every voter to show a photo ID.
Some liberals oppose this rudimentary reform. They claim that, since the poor are less likely to have photo IDs or driver's licenses, it would impinge on their civil right to vote.
(Excerpt) Read more at suntimes.com ...
They have separate booths for Republicans and Democrats in LA? I've never heard of such a thing...
Good for you..everyone should think about getting their loved ones out of the LA area..Unless of course you have a body guard and security all around..LOL!
That's Los Angeles, and yes, they did.
Oh, and sorry to imply that you were talking about Louisiana, I just figured everybody used the shorthand LA for Los Angeles.
The good thing about it was that I never had to wait in line!
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