Wisconsin's new state Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald has announced that next year, after the Republicans elected Nov. 2 take control, the first order of business will be requiring photo id at the polling place.
Remember how this issue connects to ideology - Democrats tend to favor less restrictions in voting on the grounds that it reduces democracy and Republicans tend to favor more restriction on grounds of reducing fraud. You be the judge.
To better understand how this issue connects voting and ideology, you can listen to a radio debate on the topic on WPR's Joy Cardin show.
Do your research: this blog post discusses the viewpoints of Barrett (D) and Walker (Governor-elect - R) on photo IDs at the polls. This editorial explains the proponent argument and this blog post and this blog post take the opposing viewpoint.
Would this really disenfranchise voters? Who would be most affected? Do you think fraud is an issue in Wisconsin? Is this a solution without a problem or a needed change? How does this issue reflect the larger ideological battles regarding voting in America?
I think that Scott Fitzgerald has a good idea making photo ID required at the polls to vote. This would really make fraud more unlikely in Wisconsin even though I don't think its a problem I still think that some fraud still goes on. The photo ID would also make it so the people that don't do their research on the candidates less likely to vote which would make it so that the people that win the elections are really the right people for the office. At the same time though ID is something that is available to everyone so it still doesn't take anyones right away to vote. It also is something that the voter wouldn't have to plan ahead for. Voting in America is something that is a privilege for everyone to do even though a vast majority don't and even the selected group that does don't even always take it seriously. So, this little change in the voting would be wise to help voter fraud and still be easy enough for everyone to vote.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely think voter ID is essential at the polls. It inhibits fraud, which i think is present in any polling station anywhere. The running argument against it is that it will decrease voter turnout, which i can't argue with. But it's not like it's going to annihilate an election in any way. The way i see it, an ID is a pretty standard piece of a person's everyday life. After all if you drove to the station to vote, you more than likely have it on you anyways. Yes, i understand that some people don't have licenses, or they move alot, or are from Mars, but it's not that difficult to go get a photo ID. If you are one of the chosen few that disagree with that statement, and would rather get a root canal than spend ten minutes to write your adress and flash those pearly whites, then i'd suggest reevaluating your priorities because eventually you'll run out of teeth to get root canals on and then you'll have no more excuses. In closing, i'll just say this, voter ID is relatively simple and rather important. It's not a huge deal, so suck it up, and say cheese!!
ReplyDeleteI say that requiring photo ID at the polls is a super fantastic idea! Photo ID, YEA! No, but seriously I think that this would really limit the amount of fraud that would happen. So this really wouldn't disenfranchise voters at the polls. The people who normally vote take the steps to register, and showing a photo ID is not a big deal at all. Most people I know, (and by this I mean everyone) carry around a wallet most of the time, and in order to drive you need a license, and this is an ID. So its only one little bitty extra step to take, and it would limit fraud so much. Everyone would be affected, but just the voters that normally vote would just have to take one little extra step. I don't think fraud is a big issue in Wisconsin, but I believe that it's a good idea by our politicians to limit fraud. It would affect the elderly, because they didn't need to have a photo ID for certain things. Also poor people would be affected because of time issues. College students would also be affected because of the photo ID. This would make a solution without a problem per se, but hey if the problem ever does come up then we have a solution right? Plus times are changing so we do need a little change. This reflection of ideology goes right along with in Wisconsin we believe that everyone has one vote, and everyone deserves to have that vote not taken from them. However votes aren't being taken from most voters, as in Wisconsin there is no know fraud. So this goes to the problem that doesn't really exist. The Republicans are for limiting fraud, so this makes a lot of sense, because this step is taken to limit fraud. Also Republicans I believe are trying to take away college vote. The reason the Republicans try to make voting harder is that less people will vote, thus there will be more Republicans in office. This is because the majority of the people would trend to vote Democratic and this would affect that. But for now the Republicans will have the say and the voting laws will be up to them.
ReplyDeleteI strongly believe that photo IDs should NOT be required at the polling stations. This law affects the most the college students and the lower income level voters. While there is almost no voter fraud around here, there can more commonly be voter fraud in Milwaukee, Madison and other larger metropolitan areas in Wisconsin. However, I do not think that showing photo ID at the polling stations is the correct solution. One could argue that the college students at the universities in these large cities, whom this law is largely affecting, already have their photo IDs. However, many of these students may not wish to vote at the place where they attend college and instead wish to at home. This would mean that the photo ID may not be in effect at the polling station. This nation is supposed to be a democracy and it is my STRONG belief that Fitzgerald only wishes for this law to go into effect so that less college students and lower income members vote, thus taking out valuable votes.
ReplyDeleteI think that requiring photo ID at the polls is a good idea, and honestly I'm surprised it has taken this long to require this. I mean it really helps to limit fraud. it wouldn't disenfranchise voters because those that normally vote and care about voting would be sure to bring IDs with them like Tyler said. And the biggest group of people that it would affect would be college students who would may have to go back to their home town or get a new driver's license for the state they're currently in when they want to vote. I don't thnk fraud is a major major issue in Wisconsin but I definitely think it's an issue everywhere no matter what state you're in, and photo IDs would help to eliminate a lot of fraud but obviously probably wouldn't get rid of it completely. And this reflects the battles of ideology in America because Republicans are generally for more restricitions on voting while Democrats are against them because if more people vote the general assumption is that more people will vote Democratic which the Republicans obviously don't want so they in a way try to keep as many people as they can from voting.
ReplyDeleteI think that photo IDing at the polls is a great idea. As we've seen in the past Fluffy and Great-great-great grandpa John Doe like to vote a lot if they had to show their ID at the polls we would be more likely to stop their fraudulent voting. Isn't it a small price to pay to get your picture taken so you can influence politics with your ballot? There is no doubt IDs would be able to eliminate much of the voter fraud in Wisconsin.
ReplyDeleteOne of the main benefits of the democratic vote is anonymity. A voters name does not go on the ballot, so why should photo identification be needed in order to vote? Right now keeping the correct total on votes is hard enough. What problems would occur when asking for a photo id on top of that?
ReplyDeleteIn today’s day and age, there really isn’t much of a problem with voter fraud, particularly in Wisconsin. Maybe in other regions of the country photo ID would be beneficial, but not here. Maybe 70 years ago this would have had a significant impact. There just isn’t enough evidence that fraud is changing the outcome of elections for photo ID to necessary in Wisconsin. I agree with Becca in that photo ID would just make everything more complicated.
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