Wisconsin Official Told DMV not to Push Free Voter ID Cards

Al Reuters ^ | September 7, 2011 | Staff Writer

[Diana in Wisconsin]

A Wisconsin official has discouraged state workers from volunteering information about free IDs available under a controversial voter identification law that critics complain is designed to suppress votes, a memo leaked on Wednesday showed. The memo, provided to the press by Democratic State Senator Jon Erpenbach, was likely to fan concerns among critics of the Republican-backed law that it aimed to suppress votes of thousands of otherwise eligible Wisconsin voters. In the memo, a top aide in the state transportation department told staffers in the motor vehicle department, which is responsible for issuing the free IDs, to "refrain from offering" them to customers who do not specifically ask for them. "Questions on what kind of ID is needed for voting," the aide, Steven Krieser, wrote in the July 1 memo, "should be directed to the Government Accountability Board." The voter ID law was part of a broader conservative program pushed through Wisconsin's Republican-controlled legislature earlier this year by Governor Scott Walker, who took office in January.

*SNIP*

"The DMV is applying the voter ID law that the legislature provided to it," Krieser told Reuters. "It says the customer has to request it. So we've taken the strict reading of the statute and that's how we've implemented it. That's all that the memo was getting at."

[Diana in Wisconsin]

TOTALLY misleading headline...they're just following the BILL that was passed concerning this. Customers must ASK for the ID. *Rolleyes*

[Vigilanteman]

I'm trying to get my head around this thing. Somebody comes in to get a driver's license (which automatically registers them to vote and provides a valid voter ID with one document) and you are supposed to tell them about free Voter ID cards?

Why? So they can vote twice?

[Vigilanteman]

I'm trying to get my head around this thing. Somebody comes in to get a driver's license (which automatically registers them to vote unless the opt out and provides a valid voter ID with one document) and you are supposed to tell them about free Voter ID cards?

Why? So they can vote twice?

[Vigilanteman]

I'm trying to get my head around this thing. Somebody comes in to get a driver's license (which automatically registers them to vote unless they opt out and provides a valid voter ID with one document) and you are supposed to tell them about free Voter ID cards?

Why? So they can vote twice?

[Hunton Peck]

So...not begging someone to take a free lunch that’s available to them is the same as starving them to death.

Thanks for the latest from Planet Reuters!

[iowamark]

Because voters who do not assert that they are seeking the free ID will be charged a $28 fee for the document, critics see the law as illegal because it may disenfranchise voters who don't pay.

DMV is worried about losing income.

A 2005 University of Wisconsin study found 59 percent of Hispanic women and 55 percent of African-American men in the Milwaukee area lacked a valid state-issued photo ID.

Many Americans are unaware how many people live on the fringes of society.

[WSGilcrest]

Why? So they can vote twice?

or post thrice?

[Maverick68]

fair elections scare these people...that’s all you need to know about them...

[Beagle8U]

Everyone needs to read this part, over and over, until they understand what this is about...

“The memo, provided to the press by Democratic State Senator Jon Erpenbach, was likely to fan concerns among critics of the Republican-backed law that it aimed to suppress votes of thousands of otherwise eligible Wisconsin voters. In the memo, a top aide in the state transportation department told staffers in the motor vehicle department, which is responsible for issuing the free IDs, to “refrain from offering” them to customers who do not specifically ask for them. “Questions on what kind of ID is needed for voting,” the aide, Steven Krieser, wrote in the July 1 memo, “should be directed to the Government Accountability Board.” The voter ID law was part of a broader conservative program pushed through Wisconsin's Republican-controlled legislature earlier this year by Governor Scott Walker, who took office in January.”

Clue for those that still don't understand... Someone comes in and asks about voting and what they need to do so, rather than register them and give them the free ID card, they send them off to search a website to read a law.

It is liberal bullcrap.

[sickoflibs]

RE "...Told DMV not to Push .."

Don't forget your free ID card. You wont be able to vote without it.

or

ID card??? Oh yeah..., See that really, really long line. over there? If you get on the end of it you might get your card sometime tomorrow. The lady at the desk is really nice, she is a great Grandma at 95 but she is sometimes very slow , and she dozes off after lunch for a few minutes at a time.

[rcrngroup]

A 2005 University of Wisconsin study found 59 percent of Hispanic women and 55 percent of African-American men in the Milwaukee area lacked a valid state-issued photo ID.

Many Americans are unaware how many people live on the fringes of society.

Bullcrap! First of all I wouldn't trust a left-wing, marxist, commie pig Univ of Wisc study any further than I could flush it down the nearest toilet.

Secondly, how do all these "disadvantaged minorities" buy their beer & cigarettes or apply for their food stamp card or government housing or assistance programs? You gotta have photo id for these things? I would venture to say, that of 18-21 yr old and above, about 99.999% of people can come up with a photo id if necessary within 24 hours or less. Emphasis on the less than 24 hrs! My dad is 94 yrs old and he has a photo id.

In fact as a test, let's declare no more freebies unless 2 forms of photo id's are shown, and see how fast they could come up with a 2 valid photo id. Again, I would say, less than 24 hours.

[aruanan]

A 2005 University of Wisconsin study found 59 percent of Hispanic women and 55 percent of African-American men in the Milwaukee area lacked a valid state-issued photo ID.

Many Americans are unaware how many people live on the fringes of society. Bullcrap!

It is crap, deep and stinking. I simply don't believe 55% of the black guys in Milwaukee never buy alcohol or tobacco. And I don't think that 6 out of 10 Hispanic (read: Mexican) women don't have a driver's license or don't have a photo ID to prove who they are to get state benefits.

[bgill]

Texas is mass mailing voter registration cards.

[MrB]

One of the racebaiters - Jackson, Sharpton, et al,

actually let it out of the bag how big the voter fraud problem was.

They admitted that 11% of the voters would be “dissin’ french fries” (disenfranchised) if voter ID became the law of the land.

I had no idea the fraud rate was that high. I figured 3-5%.

[aruanan]

A 2005 University of Wisconsin study found 59 percent of Hispanic women and 55 percent of African-American men in the Milwaukee area lacked a valid state-issued photo ID.

Many Americans are unaware how many people live on the fringes of society. Bullcrap!

For instance, I know that employers in the Milwaukee area at least are REALLY afraid to hire someone they cannot prove is here legally. To do that they require proof of residency, citizenship, and work status. To do that, you have to have some form of government-issued photo ID to prove that you are the same one named on anything, such as an I-94 card. We had refugees who had an expired work permit card with photo who were told that they had to renew it. It took a lot of bullying on my part to force the moron at the plant to actually READ the I-94 that stated that the person was work eligible and needed no other authorization to work than the I-94. The only reason the work permit card was issued to these guys upon arriving was so they'd have some form of photo ID to use to secure their state photo ID, even though they had no need of the card for work purposes. It was even issued to children and infants.