Toobin Calls Voter ID Laws ‘A Clear Attempt By Republicans To Stop Democrats From Voting’
Toobin Calls Voter ID Laws ‘A Clear Attempt By Republicans To Stop Democrats From Voting’
On April 28, the Supreme Court upheld Indiana’s voter ID law, which guards against supposed fraud by requiring voters to show identification. The decision came despite the fact that “the record contains no evidence of any such fraud actually occurring in Indiana at any time in its history” — and despite the fact the law tends to suppress voter turnout by minorities and poor people.
Commenting on the decision on last night’s “Bill Moyers Journal,” legal scholar Jeffery Toobin explained that the “real agenda” behind voter ID laws is “to help Republicans”:
I thought it was a bad decision, but a predictable one because it was a very clear attempt by Republicans to stop Democrats from voting. I don’t think there’s any doubt about what the motivation was of that law. … The real agenda was to help Republicans.
Watch it:
Though the Court’s majority claimed the impact was nothing more than a “minor inconvenience” to voters, in fact there are as many as 21 million voting-age Americans without driver’s licenses. Thirteen percent of registered Indiana voters lack the documents needed to obtain state identification.
During the recent Indiana primary, a group of 12 nuns were turned away from the polls because they lacked a valid photo ID. One nun in Missouri said, “This is going to keep a lot of our loved ones from being able to vote.”
Moreover, the new law disenfranchised many out-of-state students attending private Indiana colleges, such as Notre Dame and DePauw, because “ID cards issued by private colleges don’t qualify under the state law.”
Sort Comments By: Top Rated | Date
64 Responses to “Toobin Calls Voter ID Laws ‘A Clear Attempt By Republicans To Stop Democrats From Voting’”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Register
RSSLogin
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog RollAbout Think ProgressContact Us
Donate
Lie, cheat, and steal…it’s what Republicans do.
May 24th, 2008 at 2:38 pmA poll tax by any other name….
May 24th, 2008 at 2:44 pmThey will do anything illegal and immoral to keep in power, just add this to the sad, un-American list. They are evil.
May 24th, 2008 at 2:46 pmPoll taxes were struck down several decades ago. This is another form of poll tax. This court decision was clearly political and not based on legal merits, most especially strict construction.
May 24th, 2008 at 2:46 pmrequiring i.d. could make it more difficult for some democrat constiuents to vote.
not requiring i.d. could make voter fraud more likely.
I understand the virtue in requiring i.d., but if republicans want it, they should obviouly pay for people that can’t afford it and they should make the i.d. easy to obtain (to include being able to issue the i.d’s at the polls).
Let’s eliminate voter fraud, but let’s do it in a way that no one is disenfranchised.
May 24th, 2008 at 2:48 pmWhy not just tell EVERYONE to vote ABSENTEE.
That is what the Republicans do, regardless if they are ABSENT or NOT.
They ENCOURAGE their people to vote absentee.
So should WE, and by doing so, ELIMINATE Diebold, etc.
as a BONUS.
May 24th, 2008 at 3:03 pm5. backup Says:
requiring i.d. could make it more difficult for some democrat constiuents to vote.
not requiring i.d. could make voter fraud more likely.
I understand the virtue in requiring i.d., but if republicans want it, they should obviouly pay for people that can’t afford it and they should make the i.d. easy to obtain (to include being able to issue the i.d’s at the polls).
Let’s eliminate voter fraud, but let’s do it in a way that no one is disenfranchised.
That has never been proven, voter fraud is a way for Republicans to eliminate several key parts of society from voting.
Many elderly people do not have an ID, they don’t drive any more they use a scat bus or community taxi to get them around. Hence no driver’s license, there are states that charge for ID’s. Senior citizens tend to vote for democrats.
ID’s also require supporting documentation, not all immigrants have proper documentation, but they are paying taxes. They would not be able to vote. Immigrants are probably not going to vote Republican, since they want them out of the country. That isn’t right in a democracy when someone pays taxes.
In Ohio, even though I had my voter ID card with me that had my signature on it. I had to show my driver’s license. I think something is seriously wrong with that. I feel a voter ID card that gets sent to you once you register should be enough. Anything more than that and we are preventing people from voting, IMHO.
May 24th, 2008 at 3:07 pmbackup Says:
Let’s eliminate voter fraud, but let’s do it in a way that no one is disenfranchised.
One thing about “voter fraud” is you cannot find any cases to prove “voter fraud” is a problem, as opposed to “election fraud” where officials are caught rigging elections, where there are many cases.
Voter fraud is a made up issue, so Republicans can attempt to disenfranchise non-Republican voters, who are generally poorer overall.
May 24th, 2008 at 3:18 pmIMPEACH the Supreme Court justices…
May 24th, 2008 at 3:26 pmIf ya can’t beat ‘em, disenfranchificate ‘em.
May 24th, 2008 at 3:36 pmFreedom rebel.
Immigrants that become citizens can vote right?
I still think it’s important that only citizens of the U.S. should be able to vote.
May 24th, 2008 at 3:37 pmJust like everything else wrong with this country, the voters (and non-voting complainers) are responsible for this. If a voter ID is required through stupid legislation, we should be forced to pay extra taxes to guaranty that everyone gets one.
Once we start to have to pay for these idiotic laws, maybe we’ll think twice about the consequences before voting in these power hungry, corrupt F’ing politicians. Sorry for the rant.
May 24th, 2008 at 3:38 pmIf the government pays for the id and makes it convenient to get the idea, why would the poor be disenfranchised?
May 24th, 2008 at 3:41 pmThe electorate and the pundits need to stop thinking in the traditional terms of republican/democrat or liberal/conservative.
The operable terms now are pro corporations (corporatist) or anti corporatist.
The corporations are a threat to American democracy and have already nearly accomplished a slow motion coup d’etat. This is the force behind corporatist Hillary Clinton and her outrageous and unforgivable reference to the Bobby Kennedy assassination. the “men behind the curtain” are full capable of murdering Barack Obama.
To understand the validity of this claim, its extent, and the immediacy of this dire corporatist threat to our future, the following reference is recommended:
Klein, Naomi, 2007, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, NY: Metropolitan Books, Henry Holt and Company, LLC
Comment: Highly Recommended. This book should be required reading for every politician and candidate for public office. A reading of this book with even a crude understanding of its implications, will reveal the nature of the plans that have occupied the priorities of the corporate right wing since before President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s 1961 warning to the United States about the dangers of the recently established “Military Industrial Complex.” That was required at the time to win WWII. It makes punishingly clear just what the Bush-Cheney psychopathic agenda has been for the past eight years, and how it is now directing the corporate right wing’s efforts to prevail in the 2008 presidential election. Eisenhower’s warning has been entirely ignored with the disastrous political consequences that are the ruination of our nation today. If you want to read a REAL horror story, one that makes Stephen King look like an amateur, read this book because this horror is factually real, authoritative in its documentation, immanent, and as of now, largely unrecognized for what it actually is and what it portends. Therefore, this condition is NOT being adequately responded to. For access to a number of professional reviews of this international best seller beginning with Juan-Santos, go here:
http://www.naomiklein.org/ shock-doctrine/ reviews/ juan-santos
Life is RAW. REALITY Always Wins!!!
May 24th, 2008 at 3:41 pmHey, hey, Toobin steps up to the plate to speak Truth to (the pissants who currently hold) Power. Whaddaya know.
More like this please, & not just over @ PBS.
Hurry up please, it’s time.
May 24th, 2008 at 3:45 pmWay past time.
madmax. I agree we should hesitate before we promote new regulation.
But, how do we insure that people that are voting really are who they say they are?
We’ve obviously had close elections in the past, were the outcome was decided by only hundreds of votes, isn’t it important that we insure that the people casting the votes are who they say they are?
May 24th, 2008 at 3:47 pmI thought it was a bad decision, but a predictable one because it was a very clear attempt by Republicans to stop Democrats from voting. I don’t think there’s any doubt about what the motivation was of that law. … The real agenda was to help Republicans.
Was there ever any question?
http://progressiveworldreview.com
May 24th, 2008 at 3:48 pmSo, how likely is voter fraud?
So, there were 24 convictions for voter fraud over a three-year period which included a Presidential election. In just the presidential election, 122,000,000 votes were cast.
24 out of 122,000,000 is .0000019%
Since these votes were cast without the voter ID laws, this it the “more likely” scenario of voter fraud. With voter ID laws, we make it less likely that 24 out of 122,000,000 people will commit voter fraud.
Now, how many citizens will be prohibited from voting as a result of voter ID laws? More than the 24 these laws are enacted to address?
BOTTEM LINE: Voting is a privilege, not a right. And it is a privilege granted to us by the ruling class. We no longer live in a Constitutional Republic, but in a defacto Dictatorship.
This Dictatorship is fully prepared to respond with military force against its own citizens should there be any outcry at the polls.
And they don’t have to disenfranchise everybody…just enough to stay in power. And, that, friends, is what it is all about.
Non-violent protest is the only option.
May 24th, 2008 at 3:55 pmbackup Says:
If the government pays for the id and makes it convenient to get the idea, why would the poor be disenfranchised?
Reality check
May 24th, 2008 at 3:55 pmBecause those governments ARE charging for ID cards and NOT providing them free, people ARE getting disenfranchised, for example the nuns that were denied their rights.
Right, Rogers,
far better we accept our defacto Dictator committing crimes against humanity than dare think about restoring the Rule of Law.
May 24th, 2008 at 3:57 pmI haven’t heard a hue and cry from the DINO’s, Pelosi, Hoyer or Reid over voter ID, have you? The best the Speaker said was “[t]he Supreme Court’s decision is disappointing.” or Hoyer “[t]oday’s decision by the Supreme Court is extremely unfortunate. At least Reid stated “[t]his is not the end of the road…. [I]t allows future challenges in which there is more evidence of the harms caused by photo-ID laws”. Still Reid offered up no bills or time line to counter the Supremes. Could it be the Powers That Be don’t want large voter turnouts, regardless of party affiliation?
May 24th, 2008 at 3:59 pmBackup: Are you kidding me? Do you really think 99.9% of actual voters have nothing better to do than commit voter fraud? It’s a non-issue. We should be more concerned about computerizing the process.
And by the way, “the government” is us. Where do you suppose the money comes from?
May 24th, 2008 at 4:04 pmWayne. I agree that if the government requires i.d. and is not willing to provide them to poor people for free, they are disenfranchising those people.
I believe that if the government is going to require i.d.s to vote, it has an obligation to provide the i.d.s for free.
If they don’t all the claims of it being a new poll tax are legitimate.
And if the government doesn’t want to spend the money to provide the i.d.s, then I guess the problem isn’t worth addressing.
May 24th, 2008 at 4:09 pmHey Backup,
The only voter fraud recently has been the caging that went on to keep college students and active duty military from voting in the last two elections. And guess which party did that?
May 24th, 2008 at 4:19 pmBriseadh na Faire.
Yours (and Waynes and madmax’s) point about how big a problem it is, is a valid point. If it happens with so little significance that it wouldn’t change any outcomes - a huge, costly i.d. requirement wouldn’t make sense.
I know this is off topic, but the link you gave for the voter fraud info:
http://www.ucsusa.org/ scientific_integrity/ interference/ election-panel-edits-voter.html
is a website for concern scientists about environment solutions.
Does it ever make you wonder what ties scientists concerned with global warming have with those pondering the issues of voter fraud?
It’s the kind of relationships that fuel climate change skeptics view that global warming issue is about a lot more than just the planet getting warming.
May 24th, 2008 at 4:20 pmToobin probably just joined the ranks of enemy combatant.
May 24th, 2008 at 4:20 pmVoter fraud has never been the problem. Election fraud is the problem.
May 24th, 2008 at 4:22 pm#11 backup Says:
Freedom rebel.
Immigrants that become citizens can vote right?
I still think it’s important that only citizens of the U.S. should be able to vote.
Yes, immigrants that become citizens can vote. But do you know how long it takes for someone to become a citizen on average? Oh, about 7 years if they are lucky. And that is considered fast. They were married to Americans. Now, imagine having a job and paying taxes for 7 years and most of it you can’t vote. I know several people who were in this situation and I didn’t think it was fair.
I understand your point but these people were becoming US citizens.
May 24th, 2008 at 4:44 pm27 - the article is researched and contains numerous references. I have no problem with the source. If you wish to attempt to discredit those scientists, I suggest you investigate the referenced articles in their footnotes. If you find any discrepancies worth noting between their cited sources and their conclusions, please post them here.
May 24th, 2008 at 5:40 pmRIGHT! If you happened to lose all of your documents, in, say, hurricane Katrina, you don’t need to vote. If you’re a naturalized citizen from a country that never issued birth certificates, you don’t need to vote. And so on, and so on, and so on.
After all, this is still a Democracy! We have to be absolutely sure only those eligible to vote are allowed to vote! Even if it means turning away thousands upon thousands of lawful voters, reducing voter fraud from .0000019% to zero is imperitive to ensure the integrity of our election process, run by political party leaders who, as Secretary of State must certify that their candidate received the most votes as tallied by an unverifiable machine manfactured by a member of their political party.
This is a Democracy! Voter Suppression is the cornerstone of all of our civil liberties! All hail! All hail! Aw hell….
May 24th, 2008 at 5:52 pmFine, let the fascists have their voter ID laws. It is up to the Democrats to organize ID drives, similar to voter registration drives. Provide transportation for people who need it to get either a license or ID card, or even pay for it, whatever. It’s a little more complicated than that I know, but it can be done. I’d love to see the look on the fascists in Indiana when all the people they attempted to prevent from voting show up and open up a can of electoral whoop ass on them.
May 24th, 2008 at 6:02 pmOh, you know why birds fly upside down in Indiana? There’s nothing worth shitting on in that state.
(sorry, had to get that one in there, UK Wildcat fan here!)
“Does it ever make you wonder what ties scientists concerned with global warming have with those pondering the issues of voter fraud?”
No, but I do wonder why people like you act so willfully, aggressively stupid. “Concern scientists”? Give me a break.
May 24th, 2008 at 6:05 pmThis is one issue that I actually fall on the Republican side of.
If you can’t prove who you are, I really don’t think you should be voting.
Old people? Who don’t drive anymore? Do they receive any form of money a bank would have to handle? ANY legal documentation? Medical care? Then they have SOME form of I.D.
I’m sorry, this is not the age of the “anonymous society”. You can’t live “off the grid” anymore, and expect to be entitled to change that grid.
May 24th, 2008 at 6:08 pmIf the GOP didn’t do this sort of lying/smearing1/disenfranchaising, they would never win. They are total losers.
May 24th, 2008 at 6:21 pmVoter ID laws completely favor REpub xenophoboc crap. What we need to do is to ensure that anyone entitled to vote, actually is allowed to vote. The GOP hates that. They only want hate-filled Repubs to vote. They’ve proved that over & over again. A bunch of partisan losers.
May 24th, 2008 at 6:25 pmBNF.
I’m not questioning the accuracy of the source.
I’m asking: What does voter fraud have to do with global warming?
http://www.ucsusa.org/ scientific_integrity/ interference/ election-panel-edits-voter.html
And what I’m implying is that the issue is being politicized. And when it’s politicized, it’s less credible.
May 24th, 2008 at 6:26 pmVerbalkint, check out the link. The concerned scientists is in the name of the website, that isn’t my characterization.
May 24th, 2008 at 6:29 pmfriendsofronmexico.
if you want to be serious, and you have a real point to make, maybe you’ll change someones mind. you can obviously do better.
May 24th, 2008 at 6:37 pmEventually we will have to do our voting with lead. The creeping repression of the under-classes by the power elites will eventually cause the people to rise up.
May 24th, 2008 at 6:55 pmjb. your making the gun lobbies argument for it’s opposition to gun control.
May 24th, 2008 at 6:56 pmGuns are a non issue…everybody has some.
May 24th, 2008 at 6:58 pmFor many it will be easier to get a gun than it will be to vote. You want real trouble, go up against a bunch of armed nuns.
May 24th, 2008 at 7:06 pmyou’re right. and as long as individuals have relative unfettered access to to buy and own guns, there will be less opportunity for repressive governments to control it’s citizens.
May 24th, 2008 at 7:07 pmNice. :0
I’ve got to go to work. Take care.
May 24th, 2008 at 7:17 pmHasn’t stopped the GOP from spitting on the Constitution, spying on its own citizens, ignoring our signed treaties and committing genocide.
May 24th, 2008 at 7:19 pmWhere would the Republicans be without their money, biased media, voter suppression, gerrymandered districts, rigged voting machines, smear tactics, character assassination, and dirty tricks?
Without their bag of tricks, I don’t think there would be ANY Republicans in office.
May 24th, 2008 at 8:01 pmSounds to me like you’re questioning the accuracy of the source while trying to ppear as if you’re NOT questioning it.
May 24th, 2008 at 8:26 pmThe whole ‘voter fraud’ scare that ids are meant to stop is a complete straw man. There is no documented case of widespread voter fraud; it’s just an excuse the vermin known as the Republican party use to keep minorities from voting.
I urge everyone who cares about restoring democracy to this country to volunteer as a poll watcher at ep365.org. It’s an organization from People for the American Way to watch the polls on election day in November to help ensure a fair contest and try to bring this country back from the brink of disaster.
May 24th, 2008 at 9:26 pmIf every we were to lose our freedom it will be done by corrupting our Justice System. It will become the crooks and liers as Judges and running the Justice Department, then not crime will be punished, or even tried.
“Our government… teaches the whole people by its example. If the government becomes the lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy.” - Justice Louis Brandeis
May 24th, 2008 at 10:38 pmI know the Hoosiers are great at basketball, but I think that’s not what they mean when they say they’re great cagers…
May 24th, 2008 at 10:45 pmIf the government pays for the id and makes it convenient to get the idea, why would the poor be disenfranchised?
May 24th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
an eminently practical solution.
May 25th, 2008 at 11:08 amand i’m sure you’d agree they should be issued at the poling places on election day? right? so they don’t have to make an extra trip? right?
how long does it take to “moderate” a comment?
It would seem to me that if Admin. can post new threads, it can take a look at comments awaiting moderation.
May 25th, 2008 at 4:21 pmtokin. you have to go back to post #5, but I did suggest that the i.d.s should be offered at the polls.
May 25th, 2008 at 5:27 pmBNF. I know it’s frustrating, but I don’t bother waiting for moderated posts to appear. I just repost it. It’s very aggravating waiting and very aggravating having to repost.
May 25th, 2008 at 5:30 pmthe repost is awaiting moderation as well.
Backup, go to the website in question and hit the “about us” link. You’ll find that the Union of Concerned Scientists was formed at MIT in 1969 and deals with a wide variety of issues. It’s not just a global warming website.
You might want to do that kind of check before you post here disparaging other websites. Your earlier posts made you sound like a troll.
May 25th, 2008 at 6:52 pmBNF. I wasn’t questioning the accuracy of the voter fraud information. (I didn’t explain it well). I believe the information you sited is correct.
The point I was trying to make, is that the website (if you go by the title) seemed to be devoted to scientists and global warming.
I am a global warming skeptic. I personnally believe that the predictions of climate catastrophy are being exaggerated and used as a tool to promote issues that have little to do with the environment.
Many months ago, TP sited a climate change website that had an article lamenting the profits of the 5 largest oil companies. I did not see the relationship of corporate profits to global warming (if anything, higher gas prices result in more conservation that is better for the planet).
When I clicked on your link, I didn’t have a dispute with the voter fraud information, but it did strike me as odd that it surfaced on a global warming website. I think when organizations that pose as objective, scientifically based research on climate change, additionally attempt to weigh in on politically divisive issues that have nothing to do with the environment; it waters down the credibility of the climate change message and gives ammunition to skeptics that believe the global warming issue has been subverted by partisans.
May 25th, 2008 at 7:15 pmThe only other thing I could offer is, that I have had a post moderated in which I was responding to the pundit who call Hillary a b!tch. I spelled it correctly the first time and the comment was moderated. I typed it like I did in this post and it went through.
I guess what I’m trying to say is maybe there is a word in both you posts that is tripping a filter.
May 25th, 2008 at 7:19 pmbackup Says:
Sounds like someone left on my vacuum cleaner cause all I hear is the sound of you SUCKING.
You keep getting dumber just as the days are getting longer.
What a shit-heel, er, typical GOPer.
May 25th, 2008 at 8:55 pmDieNowForPeace.
I’ll bet underneath the acrimony, you’re a very nice person. Although we disagree on many issues, I respect your opinions and wish you peace.
May 25th, 2008 at 9:17 pmI live in Georgia with strict voter ID laws and Diebold machines. I have learned to vote by absentee ballot each time now to avoid surprises and long lines at polling places. I don’t even have to provide a photocopy of my ID, I just sign and mail in a paper ballot. I am a Democrat and I do these to get around the Republican attempts to silence voters. How about some real election reforms. Keep polls open later than 7 p.m. and vote for two days on a weekend. That would end the tyranny of Republican rule by slim margins in low voter turnouts. Start the Revolution now!
May 26th, 2008 at 1:55 amThe Republican Party is the Nazi Party. Pass the word.
May 26th, 2008 at 5:05 pmHey, I have a good idea. How about only allowing people to vote who work and pay taxes, or own real property(thus paying taxes) or who have served in the military? This would obviously keep infants (and people who have never grown up and accepted personal responsibility), unregistered aliens, those who are not yet contributing to this country, and societal leeches off the rolls. How is that for RADICAL?
May 26th, 2008 at 7:08 pmSounds like the dirty Republicans already got their way then. These ReTHUGlican cronies are keeping poor people and minorities from getting into bars, and buying alcohol and cigarettes.
Why are we allowing this? Is alcohol illegal? How about tobacco? Why are we allowing the Republicans to keep it out of the hands of minorities and the poor?
Why are we okay with the suppression of the poor and minorities when it comes to driving? The Republicans must have already infiltrated the DMV. Those Nazis are just chipping away, baby. When it comes to ID laws, why is voting the only one we’re interested in?
By requiring a valid drivers license, we’re excluding the poor and underprivileged from their right to drive. It’s time we stop excluding these people.
We need to repeal the laws that say you have to have a valid drivers license to drive a vehicle.
We need to repeal the laws that say you have to have a valid ID to buy alcohol and tobacco.
I am sick and tired of the Nazi party in our country suppressing the underprivileged.
We need to start standing up for these people. Now WHO’S WITH ME!!!!
May 27th, 2008 at 4:38 pmThe voter fraud/corruption of Chicago is well known. Chicago has been dominated by Democrats for longer than I’ve been alive. Maybe that explains why Democrats don’t want ANY barrier to vote. Hell, you all would probably support eliminating voter registration all together and have no requirement to verify citizenship or to prevent multiple votes by the dead.
June 4th, 2008 at 9:27 am