March 28, 2024, 01:57:03 AM *
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
News: NEW CHILD BOARD CREATED IN THE POLITICAL SECTION FOR THE 2016 ELECTION
 
   Home   Help Login Register  
Pages: 1   Go Down
  Print  
Author Topic: Why is it easier to vote here than it is to register a boat?  (Read 1456 times)
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
WhiskeyGirl
Monkey All Star Jr.
****
Offline Offline

Posts: 7754



« on: November 09, 2008, 01:27:48 PM »

Quote
Why is it easier to vote here than it is to register a boat?

By JEFF DAVIS

Last update: November 9, 2008 - 8:35 AM

The day before the election, I had an opportunity to purchase a used canoe. After completing the transaction, I loaded the 30-year-old boat atop my SUV and headed to City Hall. I had called the Department of Natural Resources earlier that day to find out what I needed to do once I'd made the purchase. I was told that since this was the first time the boat was to be registered in my name, I'd need to appear in person with the bill of sale at a Deputy Registrar's office.

When I arrived at City Hall, the registrar asked for my driver's license and the boat's hull identification number. This information was entered into a computer system that immediately verified its accuracy. ...The whole process took less than 10 minutes.

The next day, at the polls, I observed a long line of people waiting to complete same-day voter registrations. While some people were using driver's licenses to confirm their identity, one individual appeared to be using the "vouching" process. Vouching is provision in Minnesota law that allows a person to register on Election Day simply by having someone from the precinct confirm his or her identity. I watched as the individual filled out a paper registration card and was immediately provided with a ballot. There was no verification by election officials that the information on the registration card was, in fact, accurate.

I began to compare and contrast this with the process I had experienced the day before to register my canoe. I had been asked to produce my driver's license to confirm my identity. In same-day voter registrations, the applicant is not required to produce any form of photographic identification. The registrar had entered my information into a computer system that performed a real-time verification to confirm its accuracy. In same-day voter registrations, information is recorded on a paper card that is not entered into a computer system until several weeks after the election. Same-day voter registrations are supposedly "verified" using a 30-year-old process of mailing a postcard to the address listed on the registration card. If the postcard is returned as being undeliverable, the registration record is supposed to be flagged so that the voter can be challenged at the next election. If the registration is fraudulent, however, there is no way to undo the vote, since the fraudulent ballot was counted with all the valid ones on Election Day.

A review of Minnesota's voter-registration rolls prior to this year's election revealed more than 100,000 registrations with addresses that are considered to be either "vacant" or "undeliverable" by the United States Postal Service. ...

It is amazing how vulnerable Minnesota's election process is to voter fraud. Any person desiring to vote more than once in an election would simply need to find someone to vouch for his or her identity in a different precinct on Election Day. A person could also easily cast multiple ballots by posing as another registered voter. ...dishonest people could simply obtain a list of these voter-registration records and travel from precinct to precinct casting multiple ballots by representing themselves as these individuals.

...The technology is readily available to perform real-time verification of voter registrations, but some politicians have resisted attempts to implement these controls, claiming that they would "intimidate" or "disenfranchise" some voters. This is nonsense. The only reason someone would favor a process with known deficiencies is that they know illegal voting is occurring and they want it to continue. ...

Jeff Davis is the president of Minnesota Majority.

http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentary/34112564.html?elr=KArks8c7PaP3E77K_3c::D3aDhUec7PaP3E77K_0c::D3aDhUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU

I would also add that a drivers license IS NOT proof of citizenship.  Identity theft is big business. 

I shop at places that take pictures of people writing checks, even if they produce identification.

Anyone take pictures of voters?  What if the registration is found to be fraudulent after the person votes?  How would anyone know what that person looked like?  How would officials start to look for fraud without an evidence trail?

Do car dealers take checks on faith?  Or are they likely to ask for some kind of identification?

What about Walmart?  Do they take checks without some form of identification or electronic verification?

I think it would be an easy thing to go from polling place to polling place and register/vote under many different names.  How would anyone catch such a thief?
Logged

All my posts are just my humble opinions.  Please take with a grain of salt.  Smile

It doesn't do any good to hate anyone,
they'll end up in your family anyway...
WhiskeyGirl
Monkey All Star Jr.
****
Offline Offline

Posts: 7754



« Reply #1 on: November 09, 2008, 01:46:26 PM »

I think evidence of potential voter fraud is all around many election officials and politicians, and they choose not to see.

- Every vote cast without verifying the identity of the voter with a government issued picture id is a potential fraud vote.  Do election officials or poll workers know the name and face of every voter?  Know them personally?  Able to pick one out of a lineup of people?

- Every vote cast without verifying (electronic means) the validity of the picture id is a potential fraud vote.  Entertainment events scan tickets to prevent fraud, what do election officials do?

- Every registration without proof of citizenship is a potential fraud.  I learned this fall that a drivers license IS NOT proof of citizenship.

- Every Social Security Number used just once?  Identity?  I think of all the reports of the same Social Security Numbers being used by hundreds.  Birth certificates?  Is this a crime?

I think elections are a sham and likely to continue that way.

Who is this day and age, that votes, does not have a government issued ID card?  How can anyone get along?

Maybe the media can profile some of these amazing people...

Gone are the days when a town had 250 residents and people knew everyone, and what they had for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Society today is mobile and moves frequently and from and to many communities. 

just my humble opinions
Logged

All my posts are just my humble opinions.  Please take with a grain of salt.  Smile

It doesn't do any good to hate anyone,
they'll end up in your family anyway...
Pages: 1   Go Up
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Use of this web site in any manner signifies unconditional acceptance, without exception, of our terms of use.
Powered by SMF 1.1.13 | SMF © 2006-2011, Simple Machines LLC
 
Page created in 6.2 seconds with 19 queries.