August 30th, 2012
12:18 PM ET
11 years ago
BREAKING: Texas voter ID law struck down
(CNN) - A federal appeals court in Washington has struck down the Texas voter ID law which required photos for voters at the polls, saying the law amounts to racial discrimination.
The decision is considered a major victory for the Obama administration and its Democratic allies who had challenged the law.
This voter ID law is questionable because why it is been considered this year now. All these years passed by
with Bush winning the presidency 8 years nobody talked about voter ID. I hope it is struck down in all the states
that enacted the law this year.
The issue is not necessarily requiring ID but what those states are requiring as ID and how reasonable it is to obtain. Where I live in PA where a similar law was needlessly and hastily enacted, it will cost voters $15 to get the required ID. No big deal right? But what if you are poor, elderly, or infirm? It becomes essentially a poll tax. The state enacted a "free" ID which you can apply for online...because that's easy for people who may not have access to computers or Internet right? This law will cost us in excess of $15million to implement in PA and it fixes a problem that doesn't exist and will disenfranchise about 750,000 voters. Why not allow whatever IDs people have to be used? Answer: 66% of those without drivers licenses are registered Dems. That's UNAMERICAN!
I vote democratic and I show my driver's license at the booth. There's nothing wrong with showing ID let's be clear about that one. The whole argument is they are pushing these laws through right before the biggest election and a lot of people can get the required ID but a lot won't be able because of the time line and the time to educate the voters. My only question to you is why they didn't push these laws before the republican primaries? The key word was republican because only democrats cheat, right?
scarab-
You realize that in the whole United States for the last 15 years there were a grand total of 63 cases where there was a possibility of voter identifcation fraud. 63. In Texas, this law could keep thousands of legitimate voters from voting. The GOP's attempt to keep minorities from voting is a disgusting fraud. Wake up!
Face it. Republicans are simply grasping at straws here. They are desperate to get back in control.
Didn't the US Supreme court UPHOLD the right of states to require an ID when voting? If so, how can a lower court now reverse that decision?
Woman for Obama
If you want people to have certain ID, give them time. Not in an election year. We all know what this is about. They don't want a black/white man running the country. That is why they keep say we are going to take the country back. Were are you taking it back from? We all know that answer.
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Excuse me but according to the rules of Welfare you cannot apply or get Welfare if you do not show them an ID. You cannot get food stamps without an ID. Trying to use the race card is low. How come the race card cannot be used to have the ID requirement removed from Welfare, Social Security, medical assistance, cashing checks????? This is nothing more than an excuse.
We will NOT allow this admin and the left to Lie, cheat, and steal this election. We know you. Last night you lost the election. You just don't know it yet
Rise up against lies and controls that subvert the Citizens right to vote
Luke Brown - If someone is smart enough to get into this country illegally, find work, and avoid arrest and prosecution, do you really think they are going to risk it all to defraud the election system so they can vote ...
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Simply walking across an open border requires no smarts. Finding work requires no smarts. Avoiding arrest and prosecution??? Obama has prevented ANY of that from happening! Again, no worry. SO they risk NOTHING, especially when there is a 99.9999999999% chance nobody will catch you. The only way to even begin to catch people, is to require an ID.
Do you all not realize that we have a problem with dead people across the country having ballots cast? It's not like these people came out of their graves, it's people pretending to be someone they aren't so they can sway the election. What's the problem with making sure the person casting the ballot is the person that is supposed to cast the ballot? They weren't even requiring a government photo id. A school id, passport, military id, work id were all acceptable. The only reason for not wanting a law like this is because you support voter fraud.
Republicans asking for a voters ID is "trying to steal an election" but Obama granting amnesty to millions of ILLEGALS in an election year isn't? Come on people wise up
When I go vote they greet me by name with a smile and then ask for my ID The only reason I think its silly is because of all the effort being made to stop something, voter fraud, that isn't a problem. How about we work on things that are problems like unemployment or the economy. I hear there s a deadline approaching on a bunch of cuts that nobody wants, how about putting some effort into sitting down and working that out.
It's pretty disgusting that a President would stoop to such lows to try & win the election. Only U.S. citizens should vote, period. I could care less about someone's skin color, I just want honesty & our country back.
Let me tell you another Texas voter story. My grandmother is 101 years old. She has been voting, she says, "since dirt." She does not have a birth certificate and does not know where to get one. She does not have a driver's license and does not want one (but she used to drive a tractor on her 20-acre farm until she became unable at age 94). She does not have a gun permit (but she does have a gun and knows how to use it). She has voted Republican all her life, and those Texas voting laws were actually going to keep her from being able to vote. She was so mad about that. Now I just phoned her and told her that the law was struck down and that she would be able to vote after all. She just informed me that she now refuses to vote for the Republican jerks anymore and that she might "hold her nose" and vote for Obama. Progress is being made here in Texas after all.
If this is what Obama needs to win, so be it. I thought he was more popular than that and every woman in America loves him and will vote for him which according to polls it should give him a win. Oh wait, I also heard the Latino vote will guarantee Obama a win, but this ID requirement proves a problem for Obama because he knows many are illegals and cannot vote which is why he fought to have the ID requirement removed. His action proves he fears he cannot win without the Latino vote.
rs
scarab-
You realize that in the whole United States for the last 15 years there were a grand total of 63 cases where there was a possibility of voter identifcation fraud. 63. In Texas, this law could keep thousands of legitimate voters from voting. The GOP's attempt to keep minorities from voting is a disgusting fraud. Wake up!
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Tell me, how do these people cash their paychecks without an ID and how do they get a job, fill out the paperwork for insurance, etc.. without an ID??? And how do you do anything these days without an ID???? Pure lies, lies, lies to help Obama get the illegal Latino vote because he fears he cannot win without it.
It only makes sense that we need to show ID in order to vote. Otherwise, we may end up with non-citizens voting. Or, is that what the Lib/Dems want because they figure illegals will vote for them. It's a very sad state of affairs in this country. Next thing you know, they'll be telling us racial profiling is bad. Oh, wait. . .
Democracy won.
@Susan
If I have to show a photo ID to get my medical care, then there is NO reason not to show a photo ID to vote. This is NOT a racial issue!! It should be about legal versus illegal.
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Hello Susan, do you think every American is sick that they should show up their ID every time they go for their meds?. How many times do we vote?. Is it when we fall sick???? If you have the right to get medicine, why shouldn't you be offered the right to vote every 4 years????
IMHO the picking apart and hair-split of a section or line in the VRA 1965 is the same as seen in the picking apart and hair-splitting that goes on over verses in the Bible. If you read the complete VRA 1965 then it's plain to see that the intent was to keep certain classes of people from preventing other classes of people from voting due to their inability to pay a "poll tax" or conditioning the right to vote of such persons on ability to read, write, understand, or interpret any matter in the English language.
The VRA of 1965 has NOTHING to do with actually proving you identification by presenting a photo ID. Again...this is in my humble opinion in which I am titled to have so please do through any hate my way for expressing it.
In Texas you can get a free photo ID card, saying people cant afford it is a joke.
Praise God that there are a group of judges that are guided by COMMEN SENSE and THE LETTER OF THE LAW & CONSTITUTION instead of fascist morals and beliefs! I can see Priebus, Rove and his fascist minions scrambling now! This is a good day for TRUE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY!!!
Did any of you have problems with voter ID when Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton ran for president ?
Despite the fact that they lost and weren't nominated, I'm pretty sure a great deal of minorities turned out for them.
This whole voter ID hasn't sprung up because the President actually won in 2008 has it ?
Why not jump on it right after the last election if there was a problem ?
I didn't hear many of you complaining of fraud after 2010 either.
I mean the arguments against this ruling are suspect at the least.
2010....republicans get what they want......and not a single issue of voter fraud brought up.
Coming up on the 2012 presidential election and now alot of people are worried about fraud.
What happened to that confident chest thumping that was going on in 2010 ?
I didn't see a need for these laws then.