Every time I vote, I am asked for my driver's license and I am happy to show it. My mother is 91 and has a state ID card, looks like a license but I think the color is different. It took her 10 minutes to get it, when she decided to give up driving. She had to have one so she could write a check at the store, plus it's just smart to have a real ID.

I've read of 2 cases of voter fraud/ballot manipulation just recently- one was an elected official in Crittenden Co, AR and the other was a woman running for office in MD. She actually voted in 2 different states, more than one time. He was bribing people to vote for him and tampered with some absentee ballots.

i will go the 1st weekend of early voting, Oct 27. due to voter suppression the days have been cut to 5 or 7 and before that it was 2 weeks and on weekends or after work you could wait in line for more than an hour. in 2008 i waited 2 hrs on a sat. during early voting so I'm sure this time w half the voting period it will be alot worse. i never miss a single voting opportunity, i think it should be the law, punishable if you don't do it. back when I lived outside of chicago the councilman would start calling all who didn't vote yet in the afternoon to make sure they voted. all of the people since the start of this country who fought or died for our rights should not have their fight diminished by appathy.

I am not going to comment on voter fraud only to say that the RNC was just busted yesterday in FL (amoung 4 other states too) for registering the dead by the thousands. a study recently done on voter fraud involving fake ID came up w 10 cases over 10 yrs throughout all 50 states and thousands of precints so I can't imagine why state gov has wasted sooo much time & tax payer $$ on fighting fraud by ID LOL. especially considering the charges filed yesterday! ohhh well that will soon be taken care of LOL! ~ liz

I prefer to wait until election date to cast my vote. I consider myself to be well informed,however, a lot of things could happen before election day.
I am a senior citizen and can't understand why people think we can't get ID. I would think that most senior's would have a friend,neighbor, relative or caregiver that would help them get a ID so they could vote.I live in a small town in Iowa and although almost everyone knows me I gladly show my ID to vote.
Lois

I prefer to wait until election date to cast my vote. I consider myself to be well informed,however, a lot of things could happen before election day.
I am a senior citizen and can't understand why people think we can't get ID. I would think that most senior's would have a friend,neighbor, relative or caregiver that would help them get a ID so they could vote.I live in a small town in Iowa and although almost everyone knows me I gladly show my ID to vote.
Lois

no. It's too early. I also don't like all these polls. lol

In the state of Washington driver's licenses don't really
matter, as you don't have to be a citizen to get one. And
a LOT of the state is mail in only.

I'm beginning to think my state is archaic hearing about some of the other states.

Absentee ballot for me now. Haven't received it yet so of course I haven't voted.

Besides being worn out with the whole standing in line thing I'm finding more and more that it's almost impossible to be up to speed on the various referendums that Georgia places on the ballot.
Really now, how long can you occupy the booth mulling over a subject that: 1) is written in jibberish and 2) involves a matter you're woefully ignorant about? I found myself simply voting NO if it smelled of a tax increase or seemed to increase the size of my already bloated and wasteful state government. By voting absentee I can really research whatever subject I'm being asked to decide. That's what responsible voters are supposed to do, right?

We will be out of town and have applied for an absentee ballot. I think early voting has gotten out of hand also. I'm not in favor of it except for military and special circumstances. We have to show voter I.D. and even though I play bridge or am neighbors of most of the people at the polling place, we still have to show the picture. I'm not only fine with it, I wish it was mandatory in all 50 states. If you care enough about voting, you should care enough to show your birth certificate and have your picture taken.

Not if you're 92 in a nursing home, have no idea where your birth certificate is, have no drivers license, and have to drove 90 miles to the nearest PennDOT to get a photo ID. I'm okay with it IF they give people a few years to get it done, NOT a few weeks. It's voter suppression otherwise as has been proven with a video by the head legislator. I am all for early voting to relieve the long winding around the block lines in the rain as seen in Ohio in 2004

i would hate to see how long people stand in line to vote on the election day LOL here. I drive by my polling place @ 7am and the lines snake down the block on that day. I just can't miss work that long (start @ 7:30am)...and I don't trust the mail in ballot thing LOL sounds stupid but I don't.

everyone should be printing out their ballot ahead of time and educating themselves on amendments, issues and candidates. some counties in FL have 10 pg ballots this round, mine, seminole co is 4 pages. 1 page of candidates and 3 pages of very tiny print for all the amendments. you really have to read up on these, they will not allow you to turn in a ballot w/o everything answered. ~ liz

I guess you can add "Smoker suppression" and "Alcoholic suppression" to the list because around here you can't purchase either without a photo I.D.

If I set my mind to it I could probably think of a lot of other suppression going on. Driving suppression maybe? Flying suppression?

Oh yeah, check this out!!! I have a fiend who can't get her Zoloft prescription without showing her photo I.D. giving us the uber cool term: DEPRESSION SUPPRESSION!
lol Oh YEAH!

Sorry....

I doubt many 90 year olds ,who have voted their entire life, have left the nursing home to go to liquor stores or attempted to buy cigarettes. What a dumb analogy.

Didn't they have to have some form of ID, SS#, medicare, something to get into the nursing home to start with?

The Agency on Aging can't help them if they call and ask?

Didn't think it would be easy, but really think it can be done. And people can get on it now, today, tomorrow, Monday, and see exactly what is involved to get it done.

From Chris Matthews:

Let me finish with the real-life consequence of this bad voter photo law in Pennsylvania.

My high school English teacher, Gerald Tremblay, has been caring for his wife these recent years. She suffered a serious stroke and has been unable to get out and about. She can no longer drive a car and therefore has no driver's license. Unable to travel, she has no up-to-date passport.

But she is fully alert and very much alive intellectually. Thanks to her husband, she keeps up with the news. He holds the newspapers up for her to read, and she's very eager to vote this year.

Therein lies the problem, this "new" problem. The new Pennsylvania law, pushed through by Republicans in the legislature, requires that to get an absentee ballot which is needed in this case, you need to produce a government-issued photo ID.

Think about the obstacles this presents here. Mr. Tremblay would have to take his wife to the PennDot headquarters�his wife being a serious stroke victim�simply to get the ID card that the new law now requires.

Now we have no idea if this is the kind of person the GOP lawmakers in Harrisburg were out to keep from voting. What we do know is the predicament they've created for her, a consequence of their slick move to, in the words of the top Republican in the Pennsylvania legislature, deliver the commonwealth's electoral votes to Romney.

I would think this case is a good example of why justice requires action by the courts to stop this unfair new law from taking effect barely a month from now.

What I didn't say is that Gerald Tremblay is the greatest teacher I ever had, anyone ever had. If he's as good a caregiver as he was a teacher, God's in his heaven, all's right with the world.

But this law needs to be changed now so that his wife can cast her ballot like every other registered Pennsylvania voter.

Here is a link that might be useful: source

bigfoot_liz, could you please provide a link to your claim about the rnc & voter fraud in fl. that recently occured?

i googled that & was unable to find any info.

I sometimes vote absentee and will vote, and vote absentee this year. Who has the best haircut, a bead of sweat showing or other "debate" issues mean nothing to me. They're not debates anyway, they're rehearsed silliness so they can use their catch phrases on each other. That too has no impact on me. I've been involved in politics for a long time and know the games and how easily manipulated many, if not most of the voting populace are. To me that's what's really sad.

The only thing that would have an impact for me would be if the candidate getting my vote were to die or have catastrophic injury or something. So there's that risk but if it's a choice between the chance or not voting, I'll vote.

I really think people have an obligation to vote. I strongly feel if you don't vote, don't complain. I wish they'd use some common sense when voting but at least vote. Admittedly all too often I am voting against the worst of the evils rather than someone I strongly believe is competent. And I'm troubled when people cop out and say I didn't vote because there's nobody to vote for.. or other rationalization.

I have mixed feelings on voter ID. The amount of fraud is very limited, but why not simply eliminate what you can? I'm not sure if there's more cases of people who can't get IDs than the voter fraud so there too, it's a small issue. Seems to me instead of trying to stop the measure, why not work on a solution to the problem? There must be a reasonable way to deal with people who supposedly can't get an ID. Use different criterias for a temporary ID or whatever. The problems used for justification will work out in a matter of time. I can't see why people wouldn't have ID anyway. It should be a requirement IMO for those who won't use common sense. Although it's not a widespread problem, it has merit, unlike some things put on the ballot to outlaw what's already outlawed! LOL Talk about bloat, waste of time and whatever else. But that's what happens when hysteria trumps reason.

"Voter fraud is nearly non-existent."

Apparently you haven't lived in Chicago, where for decades there's been a joke going around: " Why do cemeteries in Chicago stay open late on election day?" "So the voters can get home."

Or in Texas, where, among other people, Lyndon Johnson out-and-out stole the election that first put him into Congress. Many books have discussed this case, none better than Robert Caro's detailed, multi-volume biography of him.

Or in San Francisco, where, in 2001, the lids of ballots boxes from the 2000 election were found floating in San Francisco Bay; some days later a few hundred uncounted ballots "turned up".

I wouldn't mind at all having a national ID card; I've lived in two other countries that had them. They were very useful and somehow or other, even 90 year olds in nursing homes had them.

We vote absentee ballot, despite the San Fran story. A lot of material is sent along with our ballots and I read all of it, the pros and cons of all the propositions, candidates' positions, etc. On Election Day I decorate our den with patriotic streamers and little flags and we have pizza and wine, and celebrate our country, no matter who wins.

Personally, I like the finger dipped in purple ink for those who actually go to the polls.

Wow, I'm not alone this morning after all! Hi sable... loved your opinion.

Funny, we can send a man to the moon but somehow the idea of requiring voter identification is one too onerous to implement.

I agree 100% with you OAH... voter id. should be mandatory and the fact that it isn't gives credence to the fact that voter fraud is rampant everywhere.
Illegal immigrants are voting in our elections, which makes me furious.
The famous saying by Mayor James Michael Curley, in the city of Boston many years ago..was "vote early and often" he wasn't kidding.

June

What I don't understand is why preventing voter fraud would be a partisan issue. As citizens don't we all desire the same thing here?

I've never voted early. My two SILS went on a cruise one year and got absentee ballots.

OnAHolliday, you would think so wouldn't you?

I voted absentee one time--when I had back surgery. DH is voting absentee this year because he is physically disabled. He normally goes with me to the polling place, and they bring the portable voting machine out to the car--but we decided they would probably be busy this year. He has gotten his ballot, but hasn't voted yet. I never miss an opportunity to vote--too much blood was shed to ensure that I would have that right.

We have to show ID to vote--and I think that should be mandatory, nationwide. It is not difficult to get an ID, and you need an ID for so many things. I have to show a photo ID when I go to the doctor (required by my insurance company, in order for them to pay for my care), purchase over-the-counter sinus medicine, cash a check, etc.!

The Supreme Court ruled in 2008 that states can require voters to produce photo identification without violating their constitutional rights. That was 4 years ago, so people had ample warning that they needed to get photo IDs.

If you are unable to get a photo ID between now and Election Day, you can cast a provisional ballot, and then you have a week or more after the election to produce an ID. If the election in your state wasn't close, you wouldn't even have to bother getting the ID.

i am not bigfoot liz, here's a link about the RNC and their hired (now fired) 'helpers'.

Here is a link that might be useful: Florida Voter Fraud and the RNC connection

Sable -- The examples you cited were not VOTER fraud, they were manipulations by the election officials -- stuffed ballot boxes, 'lost' ballots, etc.

Today's 'manipulation' is this (entirely GOP-sponsored) nonsense about requiring ID at the polling place -- from REGISTERED VOTERS.

Just because states CAN legally require this doesn't make it a good idea.

(My DMV license photo doesn't even LOOK like me! LOL)

Some of your suggestions show that you have no idea how poor people live. Elderly, whether poor or not, may not have a computer, much less a printer. My parents were unable to obtain their birth certificates. My mom was born in rural Iowa and her birth certificate was kept in a church that burned down. She was able to prove her birth with a copy of her Marriage License and my Birth Certificate.
My dad was born in rural Missouri and they did not record births there at that time. I have no idea where in MO he was born. The Marriage License just says Missouri.
Folks in PA who are very poor probably don't have money to order a birth certificate, don't know how to go about the process, and don't have transportation to get to the PDOT office. The RNC wanted PA to have voter ID because so many of the poor,mainly African Americans and Hispanics would be casting their ballots for Obama if they could vote.
Here in Iowa, I did not have to show ID to vote early, but I did have to fill out a form with the last 4 of my SSN, DOB, and home address. That info was then compared in a computer with my voter registration info. A very quick process.
Wildchild, Iowa and other states do not have sample ballots.

Re: Sample ballots. Might you get one from your League of Women Voters? I'd think you could ask your state representative or senator too. The Chicago newspapers run sample ballots closer to election dates -- with evaluations of the candidates and discussion of referendum issues.

Iowa doesn't have referendum issues and I think that is why we don't have sample ballots. In CA, we usually had a long list of propositions on the ballot and needed our sample ballots at the polls with us. I am always surprised when I see my ballot and it has people I have never heard of running for some minor state or county office. I just skip over those if I don't know what they stand for.

ty maddielee.

how interesting that apparently it's not only one side that does it as this also came up in my search...

Here is a link that might be useful: It was a family affair

From Chris Matthews:
How did that lady get in a hospital for help when she had a stroke. No ID???

ronm80, because she had ID, like a Medicare card, just not the picture ID required for voting. Many people have ID, just not the type required of these new laws. And many places accept other IDs, too.

Almost everyone has ID, but it has to be a PHOTO ID with an expiration date. Even students don't have the expiration date on theirs . No one said they are against this except this is a political move caught on camera by the head of the GOP in the PA legislature done especially to disenfranchise the old, poor minorities in the cities that Obama would carry. The Supreme Court might have ruled four years ago, but it was put into place here just mere months before a presidential election for one reason only. If not, why not wait so all 3/4 of a million people without the photo IDs can get them in time for the next election? It cannot be accomplished in such a short times with the hours PennDot is open . Who is going to transport all the people to get their IDs? Believe me this in making people quite Angry and rightfully so.

So it seems the student IDs have expiration dates added. Problem solved. Several IDs are acceptable including those issued by care facilities and nursing homes. They made it as easy as possible. Common sense tells one a valid ID should have an expiration date. If it didn't people could trade them off.
Acceptable forms of ID in PA:

Photo IDs issued by the U.S. Government of the Commonwealth of PA;
PA driver's license or non-driver's license photo ID (these IDs are valid for voting purposes 12 months past expiration date)
Valid U.S. passport;
U.S. military ID's active duty and retired military (a military or veteran's ID must designate an expiration date or designate that the expiration date is indefinite). Military dependents' ID must contain an expiration date;
Employee photo ID issued by federal, state, Pennsylvania county or municipality;
Photo ID from an accredited Pennsylvania public or private college, university, or seminary; and
Photo ID issued by a Pennsylvania care facility, including long-term care facilities, assisted living facilities, or personal care homes.

In March of next year all Social Security checks will be electronic. Guess what one needs to open a bank account? Yep! State or federal issued photo ID or a passport.

So enough of this nonsense. Only a complete idiot wouldn't have any photo ID in this day and age and they have made several options available.

Here is a link that might be useful: PA Photo ID Law

Stuffed ballot boxes imply voter fraud. Just exactly who is signing those ballots that suddenly appear after an election (as, e.g. in Minnesota)?

By chance today I saw Robert Caro on the Cspan book channel; he was discussing his latest volume of Lyndon Johnson's biography, and he mentioned Ballot Box 13, the one that produced, post-election, the ballots that put LBJ into the Senate, when the previous final count indicated his loss. Caro is a Democrat, and a fan of LOBJ, warts and all.

Wildchild, I am with you on this one. Frankly, I was shocked when this first appeared as an issue, couldn't believe that anyone would oppose it.

Nope, not voted yet. I'll wait until election day. Still watching developments.

Our little town's polling place is expected to be busy this fall. They may process 2000 votes this year. Since I am retired, I can go in after the morning rush and have an unhurried go at it. My polling place is less than 2 miles from my house.

"Lost" ballots often turn out to be for the losing candidate, but who lost them? Ballots can be challenged for validity -- and are, or you would not hear about the 'lost' ones.

There are SO many ways to rig an election. Even Washington's supporters paid for votes -- in cash and in grog. I haven't seen anything to support the idea that there is meaningful fraud perpetrated by individuals. Seems to me the time to verify is at REGISTRATION, when there is time for a challenge to be met.

Would someone show me how the fraud is perpetrated? Some other old lady shows up at my polling place as ChiSue and votes AS me? Then I show up and am denied my vote? Exactly what are we being protected against?

Amen Wildchild. And gemini40, illegal aliens voting infuriates me too.

I agree....illegal voters have NO reason to vote in OUR election, except to get benefits that legal taxpayers pay for. I am all for showing IDs....I can not see my own doctor without showing mine!

As for the original question, no I will not vote early.

I will vote at the polls on election day......always have.
I want to wait until I watch the debates before I make up my mind.

Early voting in Ohio starts today. :)

Photo voter ID law struck down in PA. At least someone has common sense.

Too bad it's not the judges. The bill was passed in March, plenty of time to get an id. And not struck down completely, just til AFTER this election. Hmmmmm.

Hey katlan, doesn't it feel more and more like a banana republic? You're correct though, the law was not struck down and, constitutionally speaking, it can't be. The decision can be appealed and will be and the law will be upheld. The timing of the judges ruling, however, makes that a mute point for this election.

The judge in question never questioned the constitutionality of the law only that it's implementation so close (his view) to this election could disenfranchise some voters. In the end every state which desires a photo I.D. requirement to vote will have that law on the books.

All along I was fine with the Photo ID after this election. If the GOP wanted to implement this they could have done it two years ago in 2010 when they took office, but they waited till months before to put severe limitations on it at first, and said there were just a few thousand when it turned out there were 3/4 of a million people and absolutely NO way to get them all to PennDot to stand in lines with people getting drivers licenses. Because IF these people had licenses they wouldn't need a photo ID,hence their need for someone to drive them to the nearest office which may be many miles away. Remember what made this odious was the head GOP legislator saying on video it was done to get PA for Romney. You think that's kosher?

I'm okay with it for the 2014 election, but the guys who were gloating a few weeks ago may be sweating.

Amen Katlan and OAH.

relax lily316. so it's the evil gop causing all this? do you honestly believe they are rigging the election?

absurd!

Watch the video.

Agree catalyst. Thanks Wildchild.

Once again, the agrument for/against showing an ID is moot. If people are too old, poor or for whatever reason they can't get an ID, one is NOT required to obtain an absentee ballot. I called to get mine and was even able to get Harry's without him getting on the phone to verify I had is permission to obtain it for him.

Maybe this is good or maybe not, but it sure is a Godsend. If people can't get to a place to get an ID, how can they possibly get to the polls to vote?

Whichever way you lean, it's oh-so important to get to the source of your readings and the author's motivation. My elderly neighbor proved this to me recently as he has started using a computer finally, and believes every forward sent to him which are seemingly shaping his opinions.