[ellery]

Remember that we have motor-voter here in PA...that figure might correspond to the number of people of voting age that have lisences. Now, if that percentage is actually voting, I smell a rat...

[Stirner]

98.6% is too high even for the percentage of adults with driver's licences. Several percent don't drive, never have, and then there are all the dwi's and habitual speeders whose licences have been revoked. I'd be surprised if the percentage of adults with licences was 90%, especially in an urban area like Philadelphia where you can get around pretty well without a car.

[GovernmentShrinker]

Motor voter is undoubtedly part of the explanation, especially as it is VERY efficient at registering ineligible voters. A couple of years ago, a foreign student (friend of a friend of mine) at a college in suburban Philadelphia was surprised to received a voter registration card in the mail. She hadn't applied for one, since she knew she was ineligible as a non-citizen. She ferreted out the cause: she had applied for a driver's license, and checked no on the motor-voter registration section -- but apparently that is ignored by the lawless political operatives, who promptly registered her anyway.

Unfortunately, I don't see any way to solve this problem, unless conservatives and libertarians can get comfortable with biometric IDs and databases. There is simply no other way to effectively control voter registration and voting. "Motor voter" laws obviously need to be ditched as well, but those who are bent on violating our election laws will cull names from drivers' license databases anyway. Until people are turned away at the voting booth unless they can provide biometric proof that they are who they say they are, all sorts of election fraud will continue unabated.

[End Times Sentinel]

You all touch on a good point, and one that I have never understood. What is the point of trying to coax disinterested, uninformed people out to the polls? I’m not suggesting a poll tax, or literacy tests or anything, but this seems like just another poorly thought out effort to increase civic involvement in the government.

What should be encouraged is informed civic involvement. Knocking on doors, magically registering people to vote, and MTV’s “Rock the Vote” likely do more to undermine democracy than strengthen it.

Then again, when I look at the groups responsible for this activity, I shouldn’t wonder…

Owl_Eagle

”Guns Before Butter.”

[aristeides]

I strongly suspect that far more than 1.4% of the population of voting age in Philadelphia lacks driver's licenses. Remember, Philly has a subway system. I grew up in NYC, and didn't get a license till after I had moved away.