Posted on 09/19/2005 4:30:21 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - A private commission trying to restore public confidence in national elections recommended on Monday requiring a free photo ID for voters, drawing opposition from Democrats and some voting rights activists.
Critics suggested that having to acquire the ID cards in order to vote could be an obstacle for minorities, the poor and older Americans and might intimidate some people.
"We believe such a requirement would constitute nothing less than a 21st century poll tax," said a letter from Reps. John Conyers, D-Mich., and John Lewis, D-Ga. Poll taxes were once used in some states to prevent black citizens from voting.
Former President Carter, a co-chair of the commission, said he was hesitant about the free photo ID proposal at first, but laws passed in some states like Georgia convinced him that a national approach was a better idea. Republican lawmakers in Georgia pushed through legislation that requires a new voter identification card that costs $20 for five years.
"Some states have passed abominable laws that are a disgrace to democracy," Carter said.
In Atlanta, voter and civil rights organizations challenged the Georgia law in federal court, contending in a suit filed Monday that it would disenfranchise minorities and the poor. Nineteen states require voters to show identification; five request photo ID, the National Conference of State Legislatures said.
The commission proposed that voters who don't have the card could cast a provisional ballot and produce the photo ID later. States also would have to promote the photo ID card aggressively.
Two principal Democratic sponsors of legislation aimed at dealing with shortcoming of the 2000 election — Sen. Christopher Dodd (news, bio, voting record) of Connecticut and Rep. Steny Hoyer (news, bio, voting record) of Maryland, the House minority whip — also said they are concerned that the photo ID requirement could disenfranchise voters. In a statement, they said the proposal "strikes us as unnecessary and indeed unwise."
The commission recommended improved voter registration lists, requiring a verifiable paper trail for electronic voting machines and rotating regional primaries, while warning that "Americans are losing confidence in elections."
"Some foreign countries have gone far beyond us in making sure that voting procedures and registration of voters is at a high level of true democracy," said Carter, who has monitored elections around the world.
Carter's co-chair on the private commission, former Secretary of State James Baker, acknowledged that "there is room for improvement" in a system he believes remains strong.
Among the recommendations of the Commission on Federal Election Reform, organized by American University:
_Top elections officials in states should be nonpartisan and selected by a large majority of the legislature as a way to cut down on partisanship.
_States should develop registration systems that allow easy checks of voters from one state to another and the purging of outdated voter records.
Carter and Baker presented the plan to President Bush on Monday and talked about their plan at the Capitol. Later, Bush thanked them for "the excellent work" and said he looked forward to working with Congress on the recommendations after he reviews them.
"It is critical to maintain America's trust in our election system," Bush said in a statement.
Carter and Baker said they thought the recommendations would deal with problems in the system that remained in spite of a federal law passed after the 2000 elections between Bush and Democrat Al Gore.
A rotating regional primary, with Iowa and New Hampshire still leading off the voting, would allow more people to have a say in the choosing of a nominee because fewer than one in 10 voters now cast a ballot before the nominee is decided, Carter said.
Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin led efforts to get the rotating regional primary approved by the nation's secretaries of state a few years ago. He has his doubts whether it will sell.
"The problem with the Carter-Baker Commission is exactly the problem with the National Association of Secretaries of State," Galvin said. "We're both bipartisan and there's nothing bipartisan about scheming for presidential primaries."
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On the Net:
Commission on Federal Election Reform: http://www.american.edu/ia/cfer/
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plus, yaknow how hard it is to make dead voters IDs look authentic?
Would this go down as the first freebie that the poor would refuse?
-PJ
Any who would oppose voter ID are up to no good.
dems don't like the idea of identifying yourself before you vote? afraid the illegal alien's fake ID will be too easy to spot?
They didn't go far enough. In my opinion, if you are under retirement age and you don't pay taxes, you shouldn't be eligible to vote.
dems don't like the idea of identifying yourself before you vote? afraid the illegal alien's fake ID will be too easy to spot?
Definitely need picture I.D.s.
Only problem is some people and their pets look so much alike that the temptation might overcome some voters.
And btw jimmah, you should know the ins and outs of voter fraud.
sorry about the double post........oops
LMAO!!! Surprise, surprise.
"We believe such a requirement would constitute nothing less than a 21st century poll tax," said a letter from Reps. John Conyers, D-Mich., and John Lewis, D-Ga. Poll taxes were once used in some states to prevent black citizens from voting.
Do blacks consider photo ID's for drivers license a poll tax as well? Only reason why they don't want a phot ID is because they literally have to dig up their voting constituants, and open their coffins to get a picture!
And using red in you post only draws attention to your less than thoughtful idea.
Wow, Jimmy Carter must have been asleep at the wheel and didn't get the memo. MUST OPPOSE ID'S .... MUST OPPOSE ID's.
Carter is co-chair huh? With his history in free and fair elections in Haiti and Venezuela, I don't hold much stock in anything good coming of this.
We don't have National elections. Congress needs to keep it's nose out of State business.
Absolutely, the Libs and race hustlers can't allow this to happen. It seems to me, an average person, that this is the most important thing that could be done to insure fair elections. It has been suspected that quite a few dim voters are bused from polling place to polling place on election day. A good ID system would make this practice more difficult.
A Bump Is
A Bump Is
A Bump!
:)
That'll be news to Presidents that are elected!
That'll be news to Presidents that are elected!
Actually csmusaret is correct we vote for electors who are members of the Electoral College who are empowered to elect the president.
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