In April, over the objections of fuming Democrats, the Republican majority in the General Assembly and the Republican governor rushed through a law requiring all Indiana residents to show a government - issued photo ID before casting a vote in any election. Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels (Bush's former budget director and accomplice to his stratospheric federal budget) announced, "I'm in favor of any bill that ensures no one's vote is stolen through fraud."
What fraud is he talking about? Daniels failed to demonstrate that ineligible people were getting into the voting booths. And, he didn't elaborate how voter ID's would effectively solve this supposed problem.
In reality, this bill is Republican subterfuge to disfranchise Hoosiers likely to vote Democratic. "Each time Republicans gain power, job #1 is consolidation of power and gaining electoral advantage," said Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington.
Incidentally, the governor in the same time frame initiated a so-called cost cutting program of closing many local Department of Motor Vehicles offices throughout Indiana, making it even more burdensome for many voters to obtain their photo ID's.
In response, the Indiana Democratic Party filed suit to overturn the law arguing that that the GOP was using the legislation to gain political advantage and that it would impose a hardship on the elderly and the poor, and would hamper voting by restricting those who can vote. Their lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis claimed that the voter ID law violated the U.S. Constitution, the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 and the Help America Vote Act of 2002.
In addition, the Indiana Civil Liberties Union has filed their own lawsuit to block the law on behalf of senior citizens, homeless people and low-income families. Director Fran Quigley said, "This requirement is likely to prevent some people from voting," Quigley said. "This is a fundamental constitutional right."
Since Indiana photo ID drivers' licenses cost $14.00 to $19.00, Republican lawmakers are in effect instituting a modern day, backdoor POLL TAX, which was struck down by the Supreme Court in 1966. But still, the Republicans are attempting to go national with this scheme of voter exclusion since a high-powered federal commission recommended that all states enact Voter ID laws.
In another Instance, Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue and the Republican Majority in the legislature pushed through a bill requiring a $20.00 state ID for voters without drivers' licenses. Such a group would most likely to include normally Democratic voters such as the poor, the Black, and the elderly. Since the Republicans have achieved a political advantage in the South, they are trying to revive 'Jim Crow' laws.
Actually, there has been plenty of voter fraud in this country, but it has come from the Republican side. In 2000, Governor Jeb Bush disfranchised thousands of Florida Blacks with the same surnames as ex-cons. This crime in itself was enough to steal the election from the Florida electorate. But, now, Diebold has admitted that their computerized voting machines "accidentally' lost 16,000 votes in that election. It is no wonder that a newspaper recount in Florida resulted in a Bush loss. No one can any longer deny that George W. Bush 'illegally' obtained the presidency in 2000.
There was more fraud in the 2004 election. Republican operatives using lies on mailings and phone calls intimidated elderly and minority likely Democratic voters. Furthermore, they signed up thousands of enthusiastic new voters and threw away the registration forms marked Democratic. The White House created a bogus group of veterans besmirching Democrat John Kerry's war record with obvious lies. Finally, Diebold computerized voting machines were hacked in the swing states as shown by the huge disparity between the exit polls and computer results, which happened to favor Bush. This charge has been substantiated by long time pollster Zogby commenting that something was wrong with the swing state results because they were statistically impossible. And, a Diebold insider recently exposed a security breach in their computer voting machines enabling any one individual with the right information to change counts by phone.
What fraud is he talking about? Daniels failed to demonstrate that ineligible people were getting into the voting booths. And, he didn't elaborate how voter ID's would effectively solve this supposed problem.
In reality, this bill is Republican subterfuge to disfranchise Hoosiers likely to vote Democratic. "Each time Republicans gain power, job #1 is consolidation of power and gaining electoral advantage," said Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington.
Incidentally, the governor in the same time frame initiated a so-called cost cutting program of closing many local Department of Motor Vehicles offices throughout Indiana, making it even more burdensome for many voters to obtain their photo ID's.
In response, the Indiana Democratic Party filed suit to overturn the law arguing that that the GOP was using the legislation to gain political advantage and that it would impose a hardship on the elderly and the poor, and would hamper voting by restricting those who can vote. Their lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis claimed that the voter ID law violated the U.S. Constitution, the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 and the Help America Vote Act of 2002.
In addition, the Indiana Civil Liberties Union has filed their own lawsuit to block the law on behalf of senior citizens, homeless people and low-income families. Director Fran Quigley said, "This requirement is likely to prevent some people from voting," Quigley said. "This is a fundamental constitutional right."
Since Indiana photo ID drivers' licenses cost $14.00 to $19.00, Republican lawmakers are in effect instituting a modern day, backdoor POLL TAX, which was struck down by the Supreme Court in 1966. But still, the Republicans are attempting to go national with this scheme of voter exclusion since a high-powered federal commission recommended that all states enact Voter ID laws.
In another Instance, Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue and the Republican Majority in the legislature pushed through a bill requiring a $20.00 state ID for voters without drivers' licenses. Such a group would most likely to include normally Democratic voters such as the poor, the Black, and the elderly. Since the Republicans have achieved a political advantage in the South, they are trying to revive 'Jim Crow' laws.
Actually, there has been plenty of voter fraud in this country, but it has come from the Republican side. In 2000, Governor Jeb Bush disfranchised thousands of Florida Blacks with the same surnames as ex-cons. This crime in itself was enough to steal the election from the Florida electorate. But, now, Diebold has admitted that their computerized voting machines "accidentally' lost 16,000 votes in that election. It is no wonder that a newspaper recount in Florida resulted in a Bush loss. No one can any longer deny that George W. Bush 'illegally' obtained the presidency in 2000.
There was more fraud in the 2004 election. Republican operatives using lies on mailings and phone calls intimidated elderly and minority likely Democratic voters. Furthermore, they signed up thousands of enthusiastic new voters and threw away the registration forms marked Democratic. The White House created a bogus group of veterans besmirching Democrat John Kerry's war record with obvious lies. Finally, Diebold computerized voting machines were hacked in the swing states as shown by the huge disparity between the exit polls and computer results, which happened to favor Bush. This charge has been substantiated by long time pollster Zogby commenting that something was wrong with the swing state results because they were statistically impossible. And, a Diebold insider recently exposed a security breach in their computer voting machines enabling any one individual with the right information to change counts by phone.
