Courts Strike Down Voter ID Laws in Wisconsin and Texas

[JohnR! 5,495]

And We The People win again, for the time being....

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/10/us/politics/supreme-court-blocks-wisconsin-voter-id-law.html?_r=0

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday evening stopped officials in Wisconsin from requiring voters there to provide photo identification before casting their ballots in the coming election.

Three of the court’s more conservative members dissented, saying they would have allowed officials to require identification.

Around the same time, a federal trial court in Texas struck down that state’s ID law, saying it put a disproportionate burden on minority voters.

The Wisconsin requirement, one of the strictest in the nation, is part of a state law enacted in 2011 but mostly blocked by various courts in the interim. A federal trial judge had blocked it, saying it would “deter or prevent a substantial number of the 300,000-plus registered voters who lack ID from voting” and would disproportionately affect black and Hispanic voters.

Continue reading the main storyThe law was provisionally reinstated last month by a unanimous three-judge panel of the federal appeals court in Chicago hours after it heard arguments. The full court was deadlocked, five to five, on a request for a new hearing.

“It is simply impossible, as a matter of common sense and of logistics, that hundreds of thousands of Wisconsin voters will both learn about the need for photo identification and obtain the requisite identification in the next 36 days,” the appeals court judges opposed to the requirement wrote.

The three-judge panel upheld the law on Monday, reasoning that it was similar to one from Indiana that the Supreme Court upheld in 2008.

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

But the war wages on...

[GBCW 397]

They never thought Justice Roberts would be a swing vote, did they?

[LibCampFireClub 635]

When Ellen Johnson Sirleaf can vote in the US without having to show ID, the mission will be complete.

[JohnR! 5,495]

Of course it does. The GnOP will do what they can to prevent some Americans to vote... That and stuffing ballots is the only way they can get elected these days..

But the war wages on...

[Sousuke 1,214]

Voting ID laws that were last minute before an election - yeah thats discouraging the vote. Voter ID laws that are well planned out for the future and provide easy access for all to get ID....not so much.

What other constitutional rights can we drop the ID requirement?

(By the way, I was very outspoken against national IDs both in the US and the UK - I don't think a person should have to carry an ID on their person all the time....such as when AZ started creating their own immigration laws).

Edited October 10, 2014 by Sousuke

[SMOKE 1,426]

odd....we never hear people complain about providing id for entitlements

[JohnR! 5,495]

That ought to tell you how distanced from reality and the law some on the GnOP are...

They never thought Justice Roberts would be a swing vote, did they?

[lostinblue 1,989]

Voting ID laws that were last minute before an election - yeah thats discouraging the vote. Voter ID laws that are well planned out for the future and provide easy access for all to get ID....not so much.

What other constitutional rights can we drop the ID requirement?

(By the way, I was very outspoken against national IDs both in the US and the UK - I don't think a person should have to carry an ID on their person all the time....such as when AZ started creating their own immigration laws).

Drop the ID to buy a gun . I am in favor of that.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

We'll consider that just as soon as casting a vote kills another.

[Sousuke 1,214]

We'll consider that just as soon as casting a vote kills another.

It does. Right now the government is killing people in Syria / Iraq.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

It does. Right now the government is killing people in Syria / Iraq.

How does that work? The lethal ballot? Do they drop them or throw them on people or what?

[Sousuke 1,214]

How does that work? The lethal ballot? Do they drop them or throw them on people or what?

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

It's not a laughing matter indeed. But to suggest that casting a vote in the US kills anyone is utterly ridiculous.

[Sousuke 1,214]

It's not a laughing matter indeed. But to suggest that casting a vote in the US kills anyone is utterly ridiculous.

Its actually very easy.

I would argue that IF Bush had lost to Al Gore, there probably would not have been a war in Iraq which at this point has cost millions of lives. In the end, all of those Bush votes, well intentioned for not, lead to those deaths.

Voting does have alot of responsibility behind it. Life and Death responsibility. You are putting a candidate in power who has the power to destroy the entire planet.

Edited October 10, 2014 by Sousuke