[WOBBLY BOB]

leave it to the Press to search high and low for the 1 person in millions who just couldn't manage to do what 99% of the poplulation finds simple to do.

[madprof98]

Another 42-year-old woman who depends on a “boyfriend” to get around.

[dirtboy]

Does anyone spot the yawning gap here?

But Platt and her boyfriend don't have forms of identification accepted at the polls, so they recently drove about 45 minutes to a Department of Motor Vehicles office in Hudson to each get an ID.

They encountered two problems.

The DMV office's computer system was down, which meant they couldn't get an ID processed. And they were told they didn't have the proper identification to get a state ID card or a Wisconsin driver's license, Platt said.

So they drove all that way without a valid driver's license? Seems to me like being unable to get ID to vote is the least of the issues here.

[yldstrk]

In our mobile society it’s a problem for everyone, Obama, Rahm Emmanuel, and this article just proves the necessity for proof of citizenship in a country and in a state as a prerequisite to voting, running for office, claiming benefits.

[DTogo]

But Platt and her boyfriend don't have forms of identification accepted at the polls,

So how did the author confirm that Platt and her boyfriend are who they say they are??

[Le Chien Rouge]

Jennifer “Rita” Platt probably has no problem getting:

1) Food Stamps
2) Section 8 housing
3) Free medical
4) Child tax credits
5) Weed
6) Lottery Tickets
7) Abortion on demand
8) Restraining order of ex boyfriends
9) free SEIU tee shirts
10) a government paid cell phone

[umgud]

But Platt and her boyfriend don't have forms of identification accepted at the polls, so they recently drove about 45 minutes to a Department of Motor Vehicles office in Hudson to each get an ID.

So they drove to the DMV without licenses?

[marstegreg]

So they drove 45 minutes to get an I.D. without any proof of residency or citizenship? These are obviously Dem voters. I can hear them now: “I voted 5 times in the last election and I didn’t need a stinkin’ I.D.!”

[exit82]

It’s funny—the subject of the article “Rita” Platt, provides some answers to the comments below the article on the website source.

[rwilson99]

ummmm.... How did they drive there?

[MortMan]

I’m not clear how one functions in today’s society without valid state-issued ID. Setting up a bank account, renting an apartment, buying a house, cashing a check - all of these require ID.

Any ideas? Bueller?

[MestaMachine]

Here is the kicker:

“Platt has agreed to be a plaintiff in a yet-to-be filed lawsuit challenging the law. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People will be the lead plaintiff in the suit, said attorney Richard Saks.”

[marstegreg]

If only they were as worried about the people making a true sacrifice for us in the military. Historically, military votes are regularly disqualified but these two are worthy of changing the law for? Something is seriously wrong here.

[dirtboy]

This is what this nonsense is all about:

Severson said Platt and her boyfriend's case is the only complaint he has received of people having trouble getting an ID to vote.

"I don't see how it's going to disenfranchise anybody," Severson said of the law.

Platt has agreed to be a plaintiff in a yet-to-be filed lawsuit challenging the law. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People will be the lead plaintiff in the suit, said attorney Richard Saks.

"We're arguing that the photo ID requirement is an unreasonable and onerous burden on the state constitutional right to vote for Wisconsin citizens," said Saks, who is representing the plaintiffs.

Looks like a deliberate effort to make the process seem more onerous than it really is.

[MarkL]

so they recently drove about 45 minutes to a Department of Motor Vehicles office in Hudson to each get an ID.

So how did they "(drive) about 45 minutes" if neither has a valid state drivers license.

BTW, last year I moved to another state. I was required to present a certified birth certificate. About 20 minutes on the telephone, a letter, and a check for $20, and less than 2 weeks later, I had TWO copies of a certified birth certificate.

Maybe people who aren't capable of getting a certified birth certificate have no business voting.

Mark

[missnry]

Did the Pioneer Press pull the Facebook comments??? Geeze I wonder why? The woman admitted that her partner had an IOWA Drivers License!! According to the Wisconsin DMV you have 60 days to get a regular Wisconsin drivers license once you move to the state. (30 days if a CDL.)
Things that make you go hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

[isthisnickcool]

Jennifer and her boyfriend can never remember anything. Their ID’s are under the floor in the living room. It’s the third board from the front of the fireplace. They just need to pull it up. It is the same place where they hide their meth......

[listenhillary]

"so they recently drove about 45 minutes to a Department of Motor Vehicles.

Driving with out a license?

[maggief]

http://wivoices.areavoices.com/2011/12/10/wisconsin-couple-unable-to-get-id-to-vote/

John Wolfe and Rita Platt

(photo by Art Juchno)

Now that photo ID’s are required for voting in Wisconsin, Jennifer “Rita” Platt and John Wolfe drove 45 minutes from Osceola to the nearest Dept. of Motor Vehicles office in Hudson, only to be turned away. Governor Walker and state Republicans recently passed the “Voter Photo ID Law”, or Act 23, which has many Wisconsinites scrambling. Rita and John brought social security cards, current pay stubs, and driver’s licenses from Iowa, but it wasn’t enough. They need to pay for certified birth certificates, and wait for them to arrive in the mail, in order to secure a free Wisconsin ID card issued for voting. To complicate matters further for the couple, the computers at the DMV were down and unable to process their request.

Here’s their story.

——————————————-

Rita: On November 23 (2011), John and I drove down the day before Thanksgiving, because we were both lucky enough to have the day off … hoping to get our Wisconsin driver’s licenses. It is a long haul down to the DMV, and it takes some time at the DMV, and it is a long haul back up, so we wanted to do it on a day when we didn’t have work.

So, as soon as we got there another customer told us that the computers were down and that he’d been there all morning. We must’ve gotten there sometime around 10 or 11:00 am, and he said he’d been there since it opened [8:00]. And so we thought (Hugh…rolled eyes), “What a bummer! The one day we could come here the computers are down and we can’t get our licenses.” Then, the gals behind the counter encouraged us to get our paperwork filled out, in the hopes that when we were finished the computers would be up and running.

So, we filled out the paperwork, and the gal asked for my identification. I gave her my expired Iowa state driver’s license. [Rita and John moved to WI 18 months ago] And I gave her my pay stub for my school district in St. Croix Falls, where I teach. She said these didn’t count as proof of identification and that I needed either a certified birth certificate or a passport, neither of which I had. Then, I asked her if I could, at least, get a voter ID, since I’d like to vote in the next election. She said, “No.” I couldn’t get that either because I’d need either a certified birth certificate or a valid passport to get a voter I.D., as well.

Finally, I told her that I’d previously been a Wisconsin resident (from the mid ‘80’s – mid 90’s) and that I’d had a driver’s license at that time. Then, she said, “Oh, if you’ve already had a Wisconsin driver’s license, then you can get a new one and you don’t need the other proof.” So, she got on the computer…which, I still don’t understand because she said it was down, but she was able to find some information on the computer about me.…She was able to see my old license on the screen but for some reason she couldn’t see enough information for it to count. So, at that point I knew that there was no chance to get a license or voter I.D.

I was super, super frustrated at that point. And, um, and you know, I’d watched John struggle to get his, too, and also be denied. So, we left, and that was the end of the story for that day.

John: … fair enough, computers go down…but I went in there with a current Iowa driver’s license, social security card, proof of residency here – a bank statement, and a pay stub. They said, “No, that doesn’t count as proof of your identity.” They also said that I had no proof that I was aUnited States citizen, because all a social security card says is that at some point I was allowed to work here. So, you know, it is hard in that situation to not want to argue with the women that are working there. But at the same time you realize that they are just employees.

What is your plan now? Do you still plan on getting your licenses or IDs?

Rita: Well, I’m really lucky because I know that I will get my driver’s license before the next election. I have a computer, so I went on to find out how to get a certified birth certificate. I’m from California, so I have to fill out some online paperwork and pay $26 and wait for it to come. Then, the next time I go back it will have to be a day off work. So, that will be lost income, and then to spend the gas down and back the second time, with gas being close to $4 a gallon. Altogether, that is a ton of money. There are a couple of other DMV centers that are 30 minutes away, but they are only open 1-2 afternoons per month and only open during my working hours.

John: I was born in Arlington,Virginia and it’s going to take somewhere between $20 and $30 to order a certified birth certificate. But I’m one of the lucky ones. I can take the time off work. I can have some flex time, and I have a pretty good salary. I have a reliable car. I can do all of this, and I will. But what worries me is that this is a law that will cause many people not to vote. I value democracy, and I want my fellow citizens to vote.

[According to UW Milwaukee, School of Continuing Education, Employment & Training Institute: “Minorities and poor populations are the most likely to have drivers license problems. Less than half (47 percent) of Milwaukee County African American adults and 43 percent of Hispanic adults have a valid drivers license ...The situation for young adults ages 18-24 is even worse — with only 26 percent of African Americans and 34 percent of Hispanics in Milwaukee County with a valid license compared to 71 percent of young white adults in the Balance of State…. An estimated 23 percent of persons aged 65 and over do not have a Wisconsin drivers license or a photo ID. The population of elderly persons 65 and older without a driver’s license or a state photo ID totals 177,399 and of these 70 percent are women.”]

What has been your experience voting in other states?

Rita: I was living in Wisconsin for my first election, at 18, and I’ve voted in every election. I love adventure and travel, so I’ve lived in a lot of different states. I’ve voted in 5 different states and overseas. This is the first I’ve ever had any trouble. I’ve lived in rural Eskimo villages on the Bering Sea coast, and I’ve voted overseas in Thailand. No problem. Now, here I am in Wisconsin raising my kids in theMidwest, with values that are so close to my own, and this is the first time I’ve had any trouble trying to vote. I’ve never missed a single election, and I certainly didn’t want to miss the coming election (special election for the recall of Gov. Scott Walker).

It is sad to say, and I’m certainly not a conspiracy theorist, in general, but it does seem a bit suspicious to me that this Voter ID law came up now, when our state is very divided and there is a lot anger. Here we have this law that has the potential to disenfranchise an incredible number of voters. You look at the statistics and this will affect a huge number of African American and Latino voters. It seems politically motivated.

John: I’ve lived in Iowa, Illinois, Arizona, Japan, and Switzerland. Any other place I’ve been, any other state, any other country, it was fairly simple to vote with some documentation, and now, suddenly, I was stopped cold.

There seems to be a double standard. You have these legislators who claim that we need this law to protect valid democracy. And yet depriving someone by setting up conditions that make it difficult to vote, for someone who has a right to vote, means a vote has not been counted. And that is a blow at the democratic process just as much as permitting someone to vote who shouldn’t be allowed to. Yet, I don’t see the Republican legislators wringing their hands and panicking over the fact that 100 or 1000 people who should be voting are not going to vote. You know, where is their concern for the validity for the voting process then?

[elli1]

a pay stub from the St. Croix Falls school district, where [Rita] works as a librarian...

So, Rita the school librarian couldn't do the research needed to know what items she needed to take to the DMV in order to get a valid photo ID??

I smell Whopper & it isn't Burger King.

[wita]

Other
Lazy Oaf Lounge, SKITZOfrenic, Getting Two Points From Steve Platt, Bill Maher, TURF FEINZ, Sudan Action Now, WriteAPrisoner.com, 540,000 To See Scott Walker out of WI, January 2012, Shit my governor says, WEAC, Protect Wisconsin Families, Sheila Harsdorf, Northwest United Educators, Isthmus, The Capital Times, League of Women Voters of the U.S., Connectivity: Teaching & Learning Collaboratively, Bently and Wilson Photography, Wipeout Homophobia on Facebook., Professional Development Institute, Coffee Party Progressives, Join the Coffee Party Movement, Van Jones, Rebuild The Dream, Barack Obama, How Almost Everyone Just Got Screwed In One Chart, Help write the progressive Contract for the American Dream, Democratic Party of Wisconsin, Democratic Party, Dr. Cornel West, Tavis Smiley, The Huffington Post, We Are Wisconsin, We Are Wisconsin, One Wisconsin Now, Shelly Moore for State Senate, Amanda Terkel, We Teach We Learn, JoAnne Kloppenburg for Wisconsin Supreme Court, Aziz Ansari, El Sobrante, California, Tammy Baldwin, Naomi Klein, Colbert Nation, Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart, Bruce Springsteen for Labor Rights in Wisconsin, Recall Sheila Harsdorf - Polk/Burnett, Solidarity with Wisconsin Public Workers, Wisconsin State Workers against Scott Walker, The Heroic Wisconsin 14, Speak Up For Education and Kids, Liberal, Al Franken, Michael Moore, Michael Moore, Progressives United, Russ Feingold, Lena C. Taylorand 44 more

This is a no brainer, and number one sets the tone. Rita’s facebook interests. A quick perusal is all that is needed to see just what Rita is all about. Anti-American ditzy ding-a-ling, with way too much time on her hands. I just love social networking, NOT!