Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Voter Disenfranchisement

Well my friends, it's happened.  Wisconsin's Voter ID law has been struck down.  Quite frankly, I'm not very surprised given that our judges have been doing their damndest to steer Wisconsin slightly left of California.  No, I'm not surprised...I'm pissed.
U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman sided with opponents of the law, who argued that low-income and minority voters aren't as likely to have photo IDs or the documents needed to get them.
This is SUCH a load of male bovine excrement.  If that is the case, then pray tell HOW do said low-income and minority folks accomplish anything?  As we well know, a valid ID is needed to:

  • Drive
  • Apply for a job
  • Get prescriptions
  • Get certain OTC medications
  • Transact in pawn shops
  • Pick up a letter from the post office
  • Mail a package 
  • Acquire a fishing/hunting license
  • Board an airline
The list goes on and on and on.  But wait CFR!!!  Low-income and minority citizens don't DO some of those things, do they?  Well, I don't know about that, but I DO know that one needs a valid ID to do the following:
  • Apply for/receive welfare
  • Receive unemployment
  • Apply for/receive food stamps
  • Qualify for government assisted housing
  • Qualify for/receive Medicare
  • Cash a check.
As a matter of fact, in North Carolina just a few short weeks ago, the NAACP was holding a protest against Voter ID laws.  And guess what one needed in order to participate?  You guessed it!  A VALID ID.  

Striking down this law has nothing to do with the disenfranchisement of low-income and minority voters. If that were the case, then why does just about everything we do in our everyday life require a valid ID?  This action has everything to do with the disenfranchisement of all LEGAL voters - not just in Wisconsin, but across the country.  For every vote a dead person casts, your vote is obliterated.  For every ballot cast by someone who has voted in another county or state, my ballot is negated.  

I'm sure Wisconsin hasn't seen the end of this fight, for it is a fight for the very integrity of the election process in this country.

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