It could be humorous if Stephen Sapareto of Apache Junction (Sunday 9/16 The InBox) wasn’t so serious about his 88-year-old mother being kept from the polls because of her lack of picture I.D.
He tries to make us believe that it is only for trying to vote that she needs I.D. and has all this trouble. He obviously ignores the many other things she cannot do because she does not have I.D.
She cannot have a bank account, open a store account, get on an airplane, buy certain medications, see a doctor, and on and on with many other matters in life, both mundane and important. If she has no such I.D. and has gone outside the house, she has run into this problem many times long before her attempt to vote. I know because we take care of an elderly parent in our home, too.
This is one characteristic of our times and Mr. Sapareto and his mother most definitely have already experienced this many times.
Then he blames his so-called frustration on “the Republicans who are immoral (in their) blatant attempts to manipulate elections!” That partial truth and claim is both humorous and pitifully ludicrous.
Jon Seibert
Gilbert
sockratties posted at 11:08 am on Fri, Sep 21, 2012.
Voter suppression effort is more sinister than most of us think. It’s about greed and ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) has shown it is up to the task.
ALEC is an organization of state legislators who work with corporations (behind closed doors) to promote “model” bills. More than 98% of the cost, promotion and operation of ALEC is funded by large corporations such as Koch Industries. (Koch Industries and Georgia Pacific is the dirtiest industry in the US.) Participating legislators are conservative Republicans who then introduce these bills into their respective statehouses as if they were their own ideas.
ALEC initiates bills that are designed to gut education (Wake school district in North Carolina re-segregation), privatize schools, gut the EPA, eliminate government regulation, destroy unions, limit rights of workers, limit class action suits, privatize Medicare, deregulate health insurers, privatize prison systems and extend prison terms, and much more.
Voter suppression is only the tip of the iceberg. Americans for Prosperity, the political arm of the Koch funded foundation; a major behind the scenes player along with FreedomWorks, another Koch funded organization who also influences elections through the Tea Party. If you don’t believe it, check it out.
Slabside posted at 1:32 pm on Fri, Sep 21, 2012.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
sockratties posted at 5:38 am on Sat, Sep 22, 2012.
he who snoozes.... loses!
fundamental rights are being eroded while people get distracted. throw a bone in the back yard to attract the dogs while the house is being ransacked!
fae4now posted at 10:01 am on Sat, Sep 22, 2012.
Jon appears to be in need of a remedial course in reading comprehension.
The letter writer to which he refers stated that his mother has a Florida state ID, social security card and Florida issued voter registration. The lack of ID is not the issue.
In spite of ID presented she was denied voter registration in AZ due to lack of a birth certificate which, from 88 years years ago may be difficult for her to obtain.
I'm certain that I did not have to produce a birth certificate when I moved to this state.
What useful purpose can this law serve beyond discouraging civic duty?
Question for our legal expert contributors: If we require birth certificates only from those newly registering to vote without requiring one from all currently registered could the law not be struck down as discriminatory?
Slabside you may return to your dreams, sleep well. Personally I share Sockratties' outrage at this blatant attempt of private industry to control our government and citizenry.
Bingo6 posted at 7:35 am on Sun, Sep 23, 2012.
Typical "Jim Crow " voter suppression by the racist right wing extremists; another back door poll tax to keep the 47% ters down.
What is it going to take, federal troops at the polls to assure everyone's right to vote.
I haven't seen such blatant and open racism and bigotry since the 1950's.
onerebel posted at 1:44 pm on Sun, Sep 23, 2012.
Why should we have to show ID for anything? To prove who we are so someone doesn't scam the system. Who generally does not like having to prove who they are? Someone that wants to scam the system. I've found that people that spend their time calling others racist and bigot's are usually trying to deflect the attention off their own bigoted and racist tendencies!
chuckles3 posted at 8:49 am on Mon, Sep 24, 2012.
If voting is so important, get an ID. If you can't afford one you have not signed up for enough Government programs funded by me, my children and their children. I am sure there is a local Neighborhood advocacy group(funded by a grant, again funded by me, my children and their children) that will help you get one. Unless, of course, oh, dear oh my, you are not actually eligible to vote.
And the ignorance on display here in the comments is hilarious. Jim Crow laws were passed by Democrats in the South after Reconstruction. But you useful idiots keep believing what you hear on MSNBC.
JNelson posted at 9:17 am on Mon, Sep 24, 2012.
The Republic's article today on the "potential difficulties" confronting Hispanics in meeting requirements to vote seems pretty specious to me. After all, as countless others continually point out, one needs proper ID to do practically anything these days except commit a crime. Why this should be especially difficult for Hispanics who actually are qualified to vote sounds more like a victimization effort than a true problem. I'd wager that these same "victims" swiftly produce the required ID when applying for taxpayer benefits, though. But, I could be wrong and there is no problem with voter fraud anywhere, and that despite evidence in Ohio now that more than 100% of qualified voters are registered to vote in November's election. No chance of fraud there, I'm sure.
samkat posted at 7:19 pm on Mon, Sep 24, 2012.
Bingo: You need to get a new cue card. Your comments are straight out of the moveon.org playbook. The only victims in this instance are the ones who claim discrimination. My wife and I were born before WW II and grew up dirt poor. What we have we scrimped and scratched for. It took a lot of hard work but we made ourselves successful through our own initiative. I do a slow burn over the ones who game the system and claim racism.
remo303 posted at 3:26 am on Tue, Sep 25, 2012.
Darn. Suckratties and his band of mischievous malcontents have deduced the secret Conservative code for "those people" and figured out that our intent is make sure anyone who votes is actual legally eligible to do so.
Darn. Just when I thought we were making progress. I guess we will all just have to buy more products produced by Koch Bros. subsidiaries (thereby paying more sales taxes and generating actual jobs) in order to fund our marching manifesto against the poor and downtrodden little red-diaper doper-babies.
sockratties posted at 7:32 am on Tue, Sep 25, 2012.
It’s hard to determine if remo303 was trying to be cute or insulting but succeeded in neither. Being uninformed is something that can be fixed with a little research. Being myopic is quite another which accounts for the injection of such platitudes as “red-diaper doper-babies,” or “band of mischievous malcontents.” What kind of mind did that come from? Is asking someone to think mischief? Maybe in some quarters.
Good luck genuflecting to the Koch Brothers who wouldn’t say hello to remo303 if they discovered him or her on the bottom of their shoe. While buying those products remember they make $13 million a day to buy your politician and underwrite the Tea Party.
DonMey posted at 11:54 am on Tue, Sep 25, 2012.
Fae - You are correct; he wasn't complaining about getting ID, he was complaining about registering to vote.
However, he said she brought a social security number and florida driver's license. You don't need to be a citizen to get either of those items. They don't prove she is a citizen.
fae4now posted at 11:22 pm on Tue, Sep 25, 2012.
I understand DonMey, however I didn't have to produce anything more than that when I registered to vote here years ago and, I suspect, neither did you.
If our concern is to eliminate what some believe is a widespread voter fraud problem why aren't we requiring everyone to re-register, this time with proof of citizenship? If we only require such proof from those newly registering are we even making a dent?
The 88 year old woman in the letter probably hasn't had to produce her birth certificate for anything in decades. I tend to agree with Sockratties - this has more to do with voter suppression and discouraging legal citizens from voting so the people behind these efforts (Citizens United types) can have a greater voice in our government than our citizens do.
DonMey posted at 11:06 am on Wed, Sep 26, 2012.
fae - It was so long ago, I don't remember. I think I registered to vote when I signed up for selective service. However, I'm pretty sure I had to provide a birth certificate to the DMV for a driver's license.