FSTDT Forums
Community => Politics and Government => Topic started by: DiscoBerry on January 12, 2012, 06:14:26 pm
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Conservative filmmaker James O'Keefe targets the alleged threat of voter fraud in his latest offering, a 10-minute video that features attempts by his cohort to demonstrate how easy it is to vote as a deceased person in this week's New Hampshire primary.
The undercover video by his group, Project Veritas, shows O'Keefe and his associate Spencer Meads visiting various polling stations around the Granite State, inquiring about getting ballots and giving the names of recently deceased voters. Because New Hampshire doesn't require voters to show identification, the poll workers appear prepared to oblige their requests.
In their efforts however, some experts say they have violated election laws at both the federal and state level that explicitly prohibit such attempts to acquire ballots for voters other than themselves. Legal scholars recently told Talking Points Memo that their actions could lead to some repercussions.
While O'Keefe told the Daily Caller that "There's no misrepresentation in these videos if you watch them -- we didn't lie about who we were," Think Progress points out that this claim doesn't hold up during various exchanges documented in the video. O'Keefe admits that his partner was forced to flee a polling station after giving a volunteer a name that she recognized as belonging to a dead person. The incident was reported by the Boston Herald. Think Progress also notes that O'Keefe and his associates may have broken a New Hampshire law that requires both parties to consent to being recorded.
How come we don't practice the punishment of exile in this country?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/11/james-okeefe-voter-fraud-video_n_1200208.html (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/11/james-okeefe-voter-fraud-video_n_1200208.html)
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His picture sort of reminds me of an evil Dr. Who.
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According to a 2007 report by the Brennan Center for Justice, allegations of voter fraud of the type O'Keefe is seeking to highlight are often over-hyped and easily sensationalized, while actual instances are "more rare than death by lightning.
It's just like in Wisconsin. They want to eliminate "vote fraud" in order to restrict who can vote.
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According to a 2007 report by the Brennan Center for Justice, allegations of voter fraud of the type O'Keefe is seeking to highlight are often over-hyped and easily sensationalized, while actual instances are "more rare than death by lightning.
It's just like in Wisconsin. They want to eliminate "vote fraud" in order to restrict who can vote.
Weird how he has this issue with voter fraud when one he dislikes wins by a landside, but has absolutely no issue what so ever when it gets the same blockhead voted in twice
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Why is this fucker not in jail for the shit he pulls?
Ironbite-I really hope this is the one to nail his ass
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It is, state officials are calling for his prosecution
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“People who pull stunts like this should be prosecuted,†Nashua City Clerk Paul Bergeron said.
http://www.unionleader.com/article/20120112/NEWS0605/701129979 (http://www.unionleader.com/article/20120112/NEWS0605/701129979)
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Unfortunately people like him don't learn from jail time. They just take it as a sign they're doing a good job because people want them silenced.
That and his jail sentence wouldn't be long enough.
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Ummm... Demanding a voter ID doesn't sound so bad, then again with his previous stunts O'Keefe has already proven himself to be a grade A asshole.
So... Is it uncommon for US citizens to have any sort of ID or why is this a big deal?
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Ummm... Demanding a voter ID doesn't sound so bad, then again with his previous stunts O'Keefe has already proven himself to be a grade A asshole.
So... Is it uncommon for US citizens to have any sort of ID or why is this a big deal?
Voter fraud
His buddy is representing deceased people in order to place votes.
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So... Is it uncommon for US citizens to have any sort of ID or why is this a big deal?
most states still do not require it.
Part of the issue is a state ID costs, amounting to a poll tax.
In at least one state where you can get an ID for free to vote, DMV workers were told not volunteer that information.
And in Wisconsin, DMVs in Democratic areas were shut down, making it harder to get an ID.
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I am really missing something here.
How does ID work in America? I would think asking for ID would be the bare minimum.
In south Africa in order to vote, you need a standard green ID book. Yes in order to get one it costs money, but its the base identification used for everything in this country. Then before the elections, you need to register that ID book at a voting station, and that determines your voting area.
If you do not have an ID document, and are not registered at that station, you don't get to vote. When voting time comes, you have to present your ID book so they can confirm that it is you who is voting. The only thing that costs any money here is the ID document, and that is something all South African citizens need to have. If you don't have one, you are basically not considered a citizen.
Don't Americans have something similar they can use, like a register of social security numbers? Where each social security number can only be used once, and is checked to make sure its still valid? I mean if you don't require proper ID verification you get elections like you do in Zimbabwe were 200 000 dead people "voted".
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Ummm... Demanding a voter ID doesn't sound so bad, then again with his previous stunts O'Keefe has already proven himself to be a grade A asshole.
So... Is it uncommon for US citizens to have any sort of ID or why is this a big deal?
State issued ID cards aren't free, you need a properly certified copy of your birth certificate (which isn't always free) in order to get one, and you need to be able to spend a day at the Secretary of State office or Department of Motor Vehicles (which, while free, can take several hours during a standard business day necessitating a day off of work). Additionally, if you don't have a driver's license and you don't live in an area with good public transit, getting to that office could be incredibly difficult or expensive. The easiest way to get a photo ID from the state is to already have one.
So while plenty of Americans have driver's licenses or passports or other state-issued ID cards, the ones who don't are overwhelmingly going to be the poor. Who are, in a lot of cases, both minorities and Democrat voters. The U.S. has a nasty history of using seemingly reasonable requirements disenfranchise poor, minority voters.
Registering to vote doesn't require state ID, as I recall. The government does check the information you give them to ensure it is valid, and they give you a piece of paper proclaiming you're registered.
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I am really missing something here.
How does ID work in America? I would think asking for ID would be the bare minimum.
In south Africa in order to vote, you need a standard green ID book. Yes in order to get one it costs money, but its the base identification used for everything in this country. Then before the elections, you need to register that ID book at a voting station, and that determines your voting area.
If you do not have an ID document, and are not registered at that station, you don't get to vote. When voting time comes, you have to present your ID book so they can confirm that it is you who is voting. The only thing that costs any money here is the ID document, and that is something all South African citizens need to have. If you don't have one, you are basically not considered a citizen.
Don't Americans have something similar they can use, like a register of social security numbers? Where each social security number can only be used once, and is checked to make sure its still valid? I mean if you don't require proper ID verification you get elections like you do in Zimbabwe were 200 000 dead people "voted".
We have NO national standards for voting- except that the age for federal elections is 18. It is all left up to the individual state governments and the campaign donors that pretty much seem to write the laws these days.
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I am really missing something here.
How does ID work in America? I would think asking for ID would be the bare minimum.
In south Africa in order to vote, you need a standard green ID book. Yes in order to get one it costs money, but its the base identification used for everything in this country. Then before the elections, you need to register that ID book at a voting station, and that determines your voting area.
If you do not have an ID document, and are not registered at that station, you don't get to vote. When voting time comes, you have to present your ID book so they can confirm that it is you who is voting. The only thing that costs any money here is the ID document, and that is something all South African citizens need to have. If you don't have one, you are basically not considered a citizen.
Don't Americans have something similar they can use, like a register of social security numbers? Where each social security number can only be used once, and is checked to make sure its still valid? I mean if you don't require proper ID verification you get elections like you do in Zimbabwe were 200 000 dead people "voted".
Most rely on driver's license, though there's also id cards, SS cards, passports and at times, bill statements and quite a few others.
The issue isn't having ID, the issue is using it. Somehow these voting places need to be able to check your id but have no way to verify it at every poll station
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....
So while plenty of Americans have driver's licenses or passports or other state-issued ID cards, the ones who don't are overwhelmingly going to be the poor. Who are, in a lot of cases, both minorities and Democrat voters. The U.S. has a nasty history of using seemingly reasonable requirements disenfranchise poor, minority voters.
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Pretty much this.
We do have this rather unpleasant history going back to the beginning of the country and has continued to the modern day.
Bush would never have been president if Florida hadn't used such a wide open net for it's felon list, stopping tens of thousands of people who should have been able to vote.
There would at least be a case if the republicans could show a sustained problem with voter fraud. But they can't. Even during the Bush admin where they had a vested interest in finding and prosecuting voter fraud they couldn't find any.
So Republicans are basically saying it's acceptable to stop untold numbers of legitimate voters from voting (who just happen to vote for their opponents) to solve a problem that doesn't appear to exist.
Republicans saying they want to stop fraud is like Jeffrey Dahmer saying he wants to make you a nice meal. Maybe he's being nice but....
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Hold on - so you can't vote in a U.S. election if you have *ever* been convicted of a crime?
Here in Canada you can't vote if you are actually in prison (i.e. serving over 2 years) at the time. But no problem if you have served your sentence, paid your fine, whatever.
The U.S. way would certainly seem to skew the voting pool in certain areas where minorities appear to be targetted more often.
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Hold on - so you can't vote in a U.S. election if you have *ever* been convicted of a crime?
Here in Canada you can't vote if you are actually in prison (i.e. serving over 2 years) at the time. But no problem if you have served your sentence, paid your fine, whatever.
The U.S. way would certainly seem to skew the voting pool in certain areas where minorities appear to be targetted more often.
As with many things in the US, it depends on what state we're talking about. Some states let felons vote with not restrictions, some will completely removing voting rights forever, and there's a lot of states with laws in between. This (http://felonvoting.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=286) site has a summary.
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Hold on - so you can't vote in a U.S. election if you have *ever* been convicted of a crime?
Here in Canada you can't vote if you are actually in prison (i.e. serving over 2 years) at the time. But no problem if you have served your sentence, paid your fine, whatever.
The U.S. way would certainly seem to skew the voting pool in certain areas where minorities appear to be targetted more often.
In states it varies, but the problem is no-one is even told when the law changes, in my state we re-instated ex-felons voter rights, but there are still thousands that are unaware that they can vote again- if they want to. Also, in a lot of states you can petition to have your vote reinstated, but their is no standard measure of who gets it back and who doesn't.