Voter ID laws struck down in Texas and Florida

Tallahassee : FL : USA | Aug 30, 2012 at 10:48 AM PDT

By itobin53

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Voter ID laws are beginning to fall as judges declare them discriminatory and illegal. Both Texas and Florida voter ID laws met defeat on Thursday with court rulings.

In Texas, a panel of three U.S. federal court judges called the new voter ID law too "strict" and placed an unfair burden on the poor.

Today's decision marks the second defeat for Texas voter ID laws. In March, the U.S. Justice Department ruled that it had a disproportionate effect on "minorities," particularly Hispanics.

Florida suffered a similar defeat on Wednesday as the Republican efforts to penalize voter registration were found to be unreasonable and unfair.

MSNBC reported on the ruling this way:

"A federal judge said Wednesday he would permanently remove harsh restrictions on third-party voter registration groups that have handicapped registration efforts in Florida this year. U.S. District Judge Robert L. Hinkle said he would grant a motion to permanently remove the restrictions once he receives confirmation that a federal appeals court has dismissed the case (the state of Florida has agreed to dismiss their appeal).

“The suit was originally filed back in December by the League of Women Voters of Florida, Rock the Vote, and the Florida Public Interest Research Group Education Fund. The Justice Department opposed the restrictions in a separate lawsuit."

Republican-led state legislatures have been leading the charge on voter suppression, which has spread to more than 30 states.

Other efforts to suppress voting rights include shortening or eliminating early voting hours.

Ohio went so far as to try to have longer early voting hours only in Republican districts. However, under intense public pressure to end what appeared to be an obvious effort to suppress only votes from Democrats, Jon Husted, the Ohio secretary of state, agreed to adopt standardized early voting hours, which cut all weekend voting.

But Ohio remains a hot seat for the voter suppression controversy. On Tuesday, two Democratic voting officials were fired for defending voting rights.

"Democrats on the Montgomery County elections board, an area which includes Democratic-leaning Dayton, voted to allow weekend voting after Husted's directive was issued. Their votes were balanced by two Republican board members who opposed the change and the idea did not progress toward implementation. After reviewing a report from an August 20 hearing on the case, Husted decided to fire the Democrats," according to the Chicago Tribune.

Voter ID laws have been pushed in Republican-controlled statehouses under claims that voter impersonation is a huge problem. However the facts do not support those claims. The U.S. Justice Department prosecuted only 86 cases of voter fraud between 2002 and 2007, out of 300 million votes.

If you like to write about U.S. politics and Campaign 2012, enter "The American Pundit" competition. Allvoices is awarding four $250 prizes each month between now and November. These monthly winners earn eligibility for the $5,000 grand prize, to be awarded after the November election.

Ohio Republican admits voter suppression targets African Americans

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Voter ID laws are beginning to fall as judges declare them discriminatory and illegal. Both Texas and Florida voter ID laws met defeat on Thursday with court rulings. Photo: MS clipart

itobin53 is based in Tampa, Florida, United States of America, and is an Anchor for Allvoices.

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Post a Comment Comments: 19

Posted By

itobin53 | 9 months ago

I agree the republicans are promoting radical leadership and the corrupt republicans in Ohio are creating an atmosphere of racially charged discrimination. I also agree that voter id laws are proof positive that the republicans are trying to steal the election by cheating.

The republicans have definitely proven that they have no dignity and are deeply corrupt.

Posted By

agb100 | 9 months ago

Voter cheating is commonplace and Al Franken in Minnesota won his senate seat on 312 votes cast by 1024 felons.

Here's the story:

When 1,099 Felons Vote In A Race Won By 312 Ballots
In the eyes of the Obama administration, most Democratic lawmakers and left-leaning editorial pages across the country, voter fraud is a problem that doesn't exist. Allegations of fraud, they say, are little more than pretexts conjured up by Republicans to justify voter ID laws designed to suppress Democratic turnout.

That argument becomes much harder to make after reading a discussion of the 2008 Minnesota Senate race in "Who's Counting?", a new book by conservative journalist John Fund and former Bush Justice Department official Hans von Spakovsky. Although the authors cover the whole range of voter fraud issues, their chapter on Minnesota is enough to convince any skeptic that there are times when voter fraud not only exists but can be critical to the outcome of an important race.

In the '08 campaign, Republican Sen. Norm Coleman was running for re-election against Democrat Al Franken. It was impossibly close; on the morning after the election, after 2.9 million people had voted, Coleman led Franken by 725 votes.

Franken and his Democratic allies dispatched an army of lawyers to challenge the results. After the first canvass, Coleman's lead was down to 206 votes. That was followed by months of wrangling and litigation. In the end, Franken was declared the winner by 312 votes. He was sworn into office in July 2009, eight months after the election.

LINK: http://townhall.com/columnists/byronyork/2012/08/13/when_1099_felons_vote_in_a_race_won_by_312_ballots/page/full/

And here, you can go into the election office, request a thousand registration forms, fill them out and send them back by mail.

See it for yourself. And guess what? The dead voters are all voting Democrat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqMVxeZhflI

Reply By

Adrian Holman | 9 months ago

You could be in the Guinness Book of World Records for longest comments ever.

Posted By

VeronicaS | 9 months ago

Good. Glad to see there are still some rational, unbiased folks on the bench in Florida and Texas. Unfortunately , we can't say the same for Pennsylvania--who upheld the prejudicial rules even after one of the GOP blatantly admitted to voter suppression. This judge should be thrown off the bench just like that crazy coon in Texas who was raving about civil war and killing the president.

There is a new breed of rabid Republicans in "town" who act like they need a tetanus shot.

Posted By

patsne | 9 months ago

Wow, I would be really ashamed to admit that I think I'm being disenfranchised by being required to present photo I.D. when voting. Seriously? Dems are fine with having felons, non citizens and dead people vote, but be sure and don't cut folks who are actively serving in the military any slack! The fact that our curren DOJ doesn't prosecute really doesn't mean much. Remember, they really weren't interested in the New Black Panther's caught on video intimidating voters. I guess you all better get out there and scream about how unfair it is that folks need a photo I.D., have to take a test, and have proof of insurance to drive a car - after all, it's a huge handicap not to be able to drive. How can poor people and minorities manage that? What a burden - so racist.

Posted By

itobin53 | 9 months ago

With only 86 documented cases of voter fraud it's pretty obvious that its not a real problem, nor is it worth wasting taxpayers money on.

Those who think 86 documented fraud cases are an issue are ignoring the FACTS. Guess what...the sky IS BLUE !

I can't understand why more people don't see through this voter ID poop when there is well documented evidence that it is a solution to a different problem.

Voter ID is the solution to stopping legally registered democrats and minorities from voting - not fraud.

Posted By

patsne | 9 months ago

Right - just like it's a plot to keep them from driving, flying on an airplane, buying a beer, getting into a bar, etc. Why is it ok to require photo I.D. for everything else, but it's just too mean and "Jim Crowish" for voting?

Reply By

janeenf | 9 months ago

Anybody legally here in the US and eligible to vote probably has a photo ID, you can't even apply for food stamps without one. And if you are not here legally you're not supposed to be voting.

Posted By

agb100 | 9 months ago

It's because the ones clamoring against voter ID's like the ID of taking a thousand registration form home with them, filling them out and returning them by mail.

You can't fault them for liking an ID like that, can you?

My thinking is this, we should no longer require an ID to drive on the roads, get registered in schools, fly overseas, or get a pistol license or special machine gun license from Eric Holder's ATF.

Alcohol Tobacco, and Firearms.

By the way, who's bringing the beer?

Posted By

HarmonyPeace | 9 months ago

Intent - A determination to perform a particular act or to act in a particular manner for a specific reason; an aim or design; a resolution to use a certain means to reach an end.
Intent is a mental attitude with which an individual acts, and therefore it cannot ordinarily be directly proved but must be inferred from surrounding facts and circumstances. Intent refers only to the state of mind with which the act is done or omitted. It differs from motive, which is what prompts a person to act or to fail to act. For example, suppose Billy calls Amy names and Amy throws a snowball at him. Amy's intent is to hit Billy with a snowball. Her motive may be to stop Billy's taunts. (…)
In Tort Law, intent plays a key role in determining the civil liability of persons who commit harm. An intentional tort is any deliberate invasion of, or interference with, the property, property rights, personal rights, or personal liberties of another that causes injuries without Just Cause or excuse. In tort an individual is considered to intend the consequences of an act—whether or not she or he actually intends those consequences—if the individual is substantially certain that those consequences will result. - Quoted from the Free Dictionary.
This is why there is a fight for voter’s rights. Regardless of the merits and/or logic of requiring voter IDs, or how easy it is/should be to obtain said ID, or whether or not the plot would work, the point is that the INTENT of these laws/resolutions was to make it harder for specific groups to vote, in other words, voter suppression. There is not even a need to infer it from circumstantial evidence, like the negligible documented incidence of voter fraud, because some officials have even ADMITTED to it (Mark Turzai, Doug Pressei, etc. See link). That’s a problem, and we should not allow a legal precedent allowing government interference with other citizen’s rights to be established, because someday it may be our rights on the line.

http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/12814048-ohio-republican-admits-voter-suppression-aimed-at-african-americans

Reply By

patsne | 9 months ago

I take very seriously my right not to have my vote canceled out by dead people, non citizens and felons. The INTENT of the Democrats in stopping states from taking reasonable measures to insure the integrity of the voting process is so they can cheat by sending out "community organizers" such as ACORN who will pay people to go and vote multiple times, they were caught doing it in the past. They aren't concerned about military votes not being counted because they know that the military votes more to the right.

Posted By

HarmonyPeace | 9 months ago

Posted By

itobin53 | 9 months ago

It seems too easy to miss the point when you get wrapped up in one-sided rhetoric. For every case of real voter impersonation the GOP is trying to stop, millions of American citizens lose their right to vote. It's very lop-sided and citizens are losing in massive numbers. How is that protecting the vote? if one person out of 90 million commits a crime, should the 90 million be punished and stripped of their rights?

It is not as easy to get voter ID as some believe.

Reply By

patsne | 8 months ago

I know what is required because I have one - it is not too burdensome if you want your voice to be heard on election day - if it is too much trouble, then it isn't that important. This is craziness!

Posted By

itobin53 | 9 months ago

Getting voter ID costs money if you have to send away for docs. For a divorced woman, you need birth cert, marriage lic, and divorce decree. It's easier to get a passport than voter ID cards.

And no one seems to mention that voter ID laws do not prevent voter fraud. They only prevent in-person voter impersonation. There is more chance of voter fraud with absentee ballots than voter impersonation - and none of these laws address that at all.
So for all those who think that this is about preventing voter fraud - you have been duped!

All voter ID does is stop American citizens from voting. I am a citizen and if I didn't have a driver lic I would not be able to vote without spending close to $100 for fees and to get copies of all the docs I need to get an ID. By the time I got them all it would be well after election day. And what if I don't have an extra $100 laying around? Should I be denied the right to vote in a democracy?

If that idiot Gov. Scott wants voter ID cards for everyone - let him pay for it.

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