New voter? Take a hike. It's now illegal to register.
Tuesday, democracy's door swung shut in Illinois. With the most exciting presidential primary of the last two decades less than two weeks away, the new voters, the unregistered and those who have moved since they last voted are now officially locked out of the primary.
What a shame.
It's illegal to register to vote for the primary at this point. It's illegal to register at your new address.
And in two weeks, tens of thousands of people in Illinois will try to vote and be turned away. (No data to prove that, as the government doesn't keep records of the people who show up at their precinct polling place and ask if they are permitted to help elect their leaders and politely but firmly told to take a hike because they didn't register with the government ahead of time. But I'm confident that the numbers are significant. If it's a few people in each precinct, and we've got 10,000 or so precincts in Illinois, you can do the math).
In this day and age, there is simply no good reason to continue to disenfrachise people who want to vote.
Illinois needs to follow the lead of seven states and implement same-day voter registration.
And if you're concerned about voter fraud, then you're largely chasing a ghost. There just isn't any significant voter fraud in the United States. Read the report from the Brennan Center for Justice on the topic, or from Demos before instinctively reacting with the fear of fraud.
Citizens deserve the right to pick the people who run the government, no matter when they decide to register to vote.
12 comments:
And if you're concerned about voter fraud, then you're largely chasing a ghost.
Moveon.org sees the ghosts.
The cover story in The New York Times Magazine on Sunday, January 6, made plain the threat: The winner of the 2008 presidential election could be decided by flawed, insecure, and hackable electronic voting machines.
McCain wins, you'll be spooked too DJW.
Election offices, ie County Clerks, aren't Superheros. They need time to get things in order to ENSURE freedom and that every vote is counted properly. These people who have not taken time out of their busy days to exercise their democracy by simply registering to vote in time, are the ones at fault here. In this day and age of government doing everything for everybody; maybe we can drive them to the polls in a government paid vehicles, and if they have to potty while there, we'll wipe their little behinds as well. In the most watched Presidential race in history, there's no excuse for not having had the time to register to vote. Two words. PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY.
Machines are a different problem than the alleged voter fraud that opponents of extending the franchise contend can occur with same-day voter registration.
mcpundit, there's no logical connection between a 29-day regular deadline to register to vote and the concept of personal responsibility. When people show up to vote (and exercise their civic responsibility) on election day, that's something to celebrate not denigrate. The only logical concept you advance is the administrative ability of our election authorities to run an election with proper registration. We can figure out how to do that -- provisional-type ballots to isolate the same-day registrants' ballots from the rest of the pool, if need be, or a requirements that all same-day registrants show up and vote in the office of the election administrator. We are fortunate to have some of the best election administrators (of both parties) in the country in Illinois. They can meet the challenge.
Do you have any non-partisan sources to cite? The Brennan Center? Give me a break!!
Same day registration would be disasterous, especially given the fact that we have over 20 million illegal immigrants. So you want people to be able to register on the same day as the election, and without a drivers license? That makes a whole lot of sense.
The only reason libs and dems have a problem with these vote security measures is because it takes away their strategy of having the WHOLE family from the last 200 years vote. The dead people can't vote if you have to show an ID.
Anon,
is it better to cite an allegedly partisan source, as you've accused DJW of doing, or to cite your own paranoid mind, as you have done?
If you truly think 20 million illegal immigrants will show up to vote in the Illinois primary on February 5, cite some source.
Because if I were and illegal immigrant, I know the first thing I'd do is walk into someplace with quasi-governmental officials who will inquire about my name, address and other personal things. It'd so totally be worth risking arrest and deportation just to do what more than half of legal Americans won't bother to do, vote.
Think first. Then type.
What jonshibleyfan said!
Thanks for the insults!
Obviously i did not think or mean to imply that 20 million illegal immigrants would vote in the Illinois primary as there are only 12 million (legal) residents in Illinois. I did mean to imply that this is a national issue and voter fraud is real. Deceased people are discovered as having voted every election cycle and there is no other explanation except for organized voter fraud. Add that to the last election, with all of the bogus voter registration that was occuring, and at the very least the perception of real voter fraud is established.
I do not understand why requiring someone to prove that they are a resident of their voting precinct by preregistering with a valid photo ID is such a burden. The primary argument is that it is a burden on senior citizens and the poor, who can't afford or don't have IDs or the time or ability to register. So they have time to register for AllKids, free bus rides, and every other social welfare program we offer, but they can't take the time to go to the county building and establish residency in a precinct? And EVERYONE has an ID these days as you have to have a valid state ID to do anything from buying a pack of cigrettes even if you look 35 years old to opening a bank account. I even think we give seniors free IDs, so they have no excuse.
The whole point being that voter fraud is real, incredibly difficult to detect, and relatively easy to prevent. Why not go the route of protecting the integrity of the electoral process rather than protecting the rights of citizens who are too lazy to care enough about their civic duty to act.
Dan I agree with you in theory but motor voter and extended registration is prone to fraud.
Last election cycle 2006 there were thousands of people registered in more than one location and at least 500 who voted more than once.
I am NOT a Republican but the Republican Part did some good research on this under the attorney who was the ED for Gary Skoien (can't remember his name).
Former Commissioner Maureen Murphy also did some good research on fraud or at least innaccuracy and errors the 06 cycle.
Some illegal aliens do register and vote. Not a lot but some do. Some out of ignorance and some out of fraud. Some legal aliens do the same through motor votor and don't realize the situation.
We are a long way from a good Democracy in Chicago and Illinois.
Has anyone published any of this proof? Even on a website somewhere? It's hard to accept that 'voter fraud is real' when there isn't any evidence at all to support it's alleged existence.
There is a website called ballot integrity.
The Illinois Republican website.
Do a google on Seqouia.
Dan,
Just get the Federal Court filings from the guy who lost to Moore (I think his name was Gordon)
or any legal case on any recount case
There are plenty of books written on the high profile races of 1960, 2000 and 2004.
There are 4 states where there are suits against the touch screen voting.
There is a Department of Treasury investigation into Seqouia.
Ask Langdon Neal to let you look at the affidavits from State Rep candidate Darryl Smith, former Tax Board of Review Commissioner Maureen Murphy and other candidates.
Call State Rep Elaine Nekriz and ask her about the Town Hall she had a month ago in Glenview with the Ballot Integrity group.
Get the transcripts of the Cook County Board meeting public hearing on the 2006 election or the hearings on Seqouia that Alderman Ed Burke had.
I am tired and cold tonight but will try to find links tommorow.
But there is plenty of information out there on vote fraud, error, and innacuracy.
Just do google searches or since you are a lawyer Lexis Nexis.
There is plenty out there, you are either naive or don't want to admit it.
Anonymous:
I'll repeat what I posted earlier: having people show up with government-issued ID on the day of the election to register to vote is not going to increase or decrease the likelihood of goofy voting machines or intentional absentee ballot fraud (like the kind that led to an indictment yesterday).
The very narrow type of voter fraud that opponents of inclusive registration bring up as a reason to justify making it illegal to register to vote for a period of time before an election is not the same thing.
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