Letters to the Editor

You have no right to vote The Constitution doesn't guarantee it, the Republicans know it, and real democratic values in our country are under assault. By Garrett Epps [2006-09-21]

• Purr

  Purr, uh my name is uh, uh yeah...John Smith. I live down the street. I want to vote here.

  The premise here is that producing an ID is an onerous burden to vote. So, may I ask what is the suggested alternative (I did not seem to find that suggested in the article). Show up to vote the day of the election, pencil in hand? Have a voter ID tattooed on your forehead at birth?

  No one supports suppression of any voter's right to cast their ballots. But at the same time, we also have a responsibility to insure that the votes that are cast are legally valid - that means some form of regulation of the elections. That means that states require voters to register (free), and then regulate their casting ballots to a specific precinct on selected days. (absentee ballots of course expanding the geographic and time opportunities).

  If producing an ID is a burden - how on earth can the items above not be construed as an equal burden. Registering must be done at specific offices; ID must be presented there. Voting at a precinct where you live may not be near your work location - so how do you handle that? The list goes on ... any system requires that some effort be made by the voter before he walks in the voting booth.

  I frankly tire of the arguments on this subject, and how so many people can become concerned over fraud in voting machines while not being concerned over the other parts of the process - such as being a qualified voter (because there are many things that can remove you from eligibility - citizenship, felonious behavior or just apathy in not registering in the process)

  We come back to the point - rights imply responsibilities. No one can support making the process so difficult that people cannot vote - but there is an equal responsibility to insure that voting is done with some rules. I don't want dead or nonexistent people voting - so what is the system to make sure that does not happen.

  Or is the suggestion here just that you need to show up and...Purr?

  -- Ironclad
  [Read Ironclad's other letters]
  Permalink Flag Thursday, September 21, 2006 03:03 AM
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