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74 Novaman,
My question was directed to the gentleman from Indiana. Since you say you don't have the right to vote, please allow him to respond to the questions.

gdanaher wrote:74 Novaman,
My question was directed to the gentleman from Indiana. Since you say you don't have the right to vote, please allow him to respond to the questions.

Just freaking wow.

Its a discussion FORUM. If you would like to engage in a one on one conversation with someone, feel free to use the private message system.

My comment in no way precludes him from responding to you.

74 Novaman,
This shouldn't be a personal thing, but you seem to want to steer that way. The Texas constitution with it's myriad of amendments has provided citizens of this state with certain rights. Some of these have been adjusted by federal constitutional amendments and court decisions, along with state level court decisions. You are not in a position to respond to the question regarding how Indiana handles certain voting issues but another member might. Yes this is an open discussion forum, but it is disingenuous to attempt to hijack a question and form it into something it wasn't. Please give your fellow forum members a little credit. We aren't as ignorant of basic government as you might imagine.

Hey! Before you guys go for your guns, my Election Office notice listed several forms of acceptable photo ID in addition to DL and CHL.

Didn't y'all get a similar letter from your respective City/County vote police? Y'all are registered voters, yes?

Oldgringo wrote:Hey! Before you guys go for your guns, my Election Office notice listed several forms of acceptable photo ID in addition to DL and CHL.

Didn't y'all get a similar letter from your respective City/County vote police? Y'all are registered voters, yes?

Registered, but haven't gotten anything in the mail yet on it.

No, I haven't received anything in the mail yet but it may be coming. My concern is not for the average Joe on the street but for those who through no fault of their own do not have a photo ID and can not easily get one. The answer of course is to drive them to the DPS office for a photo ID but wait, there's more. I count 93 Texas counties that do not have a DPS drivers license office. Example--Lubbock is no small town, but there is no office in that county. Amarillo in Potter County has no office either, but there is one next door in Randall County, a suburb of Amarillo. That means a lot of people will lose their franchise if photo ID is demanded. Plan B involves using absentee voting. Apparently there is no way to check photo ID for this so the elderly can vote this way but also it prevents the election officials from culling out any illegal, fake,fraudulent voters. The guy from Indiana suggested that that state had resolved these issues so I am interested in hearing exactly how it was done.
Edit to add:
Plan C would require the voter to acquire a US Passport. This would be very good ID and might be accomplished in small counties by mail. The rub here is that it costs in the ballpark of $100 for a passport and pictures, plus the certified mail postage. If I recall, it was the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Novaman, jump in and correct the date if you must), that prohibited states from charging a poll tax in order to vote. (that's why we still have voter registration cards in Texas. Most states don't use that sort of thing.) Some smart lawyer could argue to overturn the law because it treats some voters in the state unfairly compared to other regions of the state, and that the costs incurred to acquire a photo ID could be construed to be a de facto poll tax. Just thinking out loud here.

gdanaher wrote: Amarillo in Potter County has no office either, but there is one next door in Randall County, a suburb of Amarillo.

I HATE to keep correcting you, but since I grew up in that area and had to go to said DPS office to obtain my drivers license....the DPS office in Randall County is actually IN the city limits of Amarillo, Texas.

Amarillo sprawls over the county line.

Edit: And I grew up in a small town south of there, so it was a 15 minute drive up to get my license. So I actually did have to come from another town.

Edit #2: mapquest location of the Randall county DPS location in Amarillo, Texas.
http://www.google.com/maps?q=4200+Canyo ... 17&vpsrc=0

74novaman wrote:

gdanaher wrote: Amarillo in Potter County has no office either, but there is one next door in Randall County, a suburb of Amarillo.

I HATE to keep correcting you, but since I grew up in that area and had to go to said DPS office to obtain my drivers license....the DPS office in Randall County is actually IN the city limits of Amarillo, Texas.
Thanks so much for the correction, be it immaterial. Most of Amarillo is in Potter county. What I have seen on the Randall County side looks pretty new compared to the old town, hence my reference to it a a suburb. Sorry if I offended you with that term.

Amarillo sprawls over the county line.

Houston sprawls, and Dallas sprawls, but it is a stretch to say that Amarillo sprawls. :-\

Edit: And I grew up in a small town south of there, so it was a 15 minute drive up to get my license. So I actually did have to come from another town.

But fortunately you get my point. You are able to travel with ease across the panhandle. Not everyone can, and Potter county along with 92 other counties do not have a DPS office.

An interesting Heritage Foundation (conservative think tank) study found the following:

In 2010, the voting age population was an estimated 237.3 million, and the citizen voting age population was 217.5 million. Of those, 186.9 million were registered voters. The Heritage Foundation has pointed to U.S. Department of Transportation records showing that there were 205.8 million valid drivers licenses in 2009, meaning there are 19 million more individuals with photo ID than there are registered voters, as evidence that photo ID is not hard to obtain.

Interesting supposition that those who are registered voters most likely have or can easily obtain photo ID. Thoughts?

"Hi, I'm from the government and I'm here to help you."

It's part of the re-districting farce. In addition to the various Photo ID thingies, our letter said that we had to go about 12 miles out in the woods and vote behind some tree instead of going two miles and voting in the courthouse like we've done the past 18 years. We still have rotary dial phones here and minimal indoor plumbing. I'm surprised that our re-districting notices got out before the more enlightened and cosmopolitan urban areas.

BTW, Texas has a generic photo ID for those without a Texas DL, CHL, U.S. Passport, etc., etc. Check it out.

74novaman wrote:Interesting supposition that those who are registered voters most likely have or can easily obtain photo ID. Thoughts?

It's easy if they're not dead, illegal aliens, or other voter frauds.

74novaman wrote:An interesting Heritage Foundation (conservative think tank) study found the following:

In 2010, the voting age population was an estimated 237.3 million, and the citizen voting age population was 217.5 million. Of those, 186.9 million were registered voters. The Heritage Foundation has pointed to U.S. Department of Transportation records showing that there were 205.8 million valid drivers licenses in 2009, meaning there are 19 million more individuals with photo ID than there are registered voters, as evidence that photo ID is not hard to obtain.

Interesting supposition that those who are registered voters most likely have or can easily obtain photo ID. Thoughts?

Those are interesting numbers but it would be helpful if they could break down further the data by age group. Some states begin issuing licenses to 14 yo kids if they are driving in rural areas. and others start testing the elderly on an annual basis to cull out those who are a danger. What we need to know, and perhaps the data is available somewhere, how many of those licenses belong to under 18 people, how many correspond, relatively, to registered voters by age group up to 70 or so, and then how the numbers compare, drivers to voters to actual heads counted, past age 75.

When the voting age went to 18 in about 1970, young voters were all into it, registered, and voted. In recent years, younger adults are less inclined to be active in the political process. It is now a little later when they recognize the relationship between financial success and political activism.

Is this still regarding seniors voting? My understanding is that all seniors qualify for absentee ballots, and that those are exempt from the ID requirements. Doesn't that solve the senior issue?

sjfcontrol wrote:Is this still regarding seniors voting? My understanding is that all seniors qualify for absentee ballots, and that those are exempt from the ID requirements. Doesn't that solve the senior issue?

It does to a point, but if a senior treasures the experience of the actual voting day event, and many do, it sorta kills the 'fun'. Secondly, the whole idea was to prevent aliens and others not eligible from voting. If anyone can vote absentee, and anyone can, it defeats the purpose of the law. I'm still wondering how other states accomplished the near impossible. I guess I don't understand the concept of having a 'current' ID. Hey, if Aunt Edna was Aunt Edna on her drivers license that expired in 2005 and she never renewed it, why should she not be able to use it? It can't be the picture. If you've had a CHL for awhile, well, you look different now. Maybe a lot!!

Well, I'm not too concerned with the loss of the social voting experience! As for the rest, at least it's a start.

If he really wants the experience, he'll just have to find a way to get an ID.