postage to return ballot, WTF

[Andara Bledin]

And you still have to pay postage to mail in your ballot since that is the way the OP is deciding to vote.

Doesn't voting require no fees at all under any circumstances?

No. That's not what it means.

What it does mean is clear access, without fiscal or other impediment, to the polling location.

They aren't required to get your ballot there any more than they are required to get you there; they just need to make sure that once either of the two arrives, that they are properly counted.

^-.-^

[daleduke17]

"Properly counted" meaning also that my vote counts for me, not some guy claiming to be me. Without me showing photo ID, I (nor anyone) cannot guarantee my vote is properly counted.

End of story.

[AdminAssistant]

I assume, then, that you are also fighting electronic voting systems that could be easily hacked, right?

[Duelist925]

"Properly counted" meaning also that my vote counts for me, not some guy claiming to be me. Without me showing photo ID, I (nor anyone) cannot guarantee my vote is properly counted.

End of story.

Oh yes, because there have been oh so many instances of voter id fraud in the past few decades.

And its not as if getting a proper ID can be a financial burden on some people who don't have the luxury of hours to fill out forms, wait in lines, take the bus or get a friend to drive them, and skip work to jump through the proper hoops for an id.

-_-

[daleduke17]

Oh yes, because there have been oh so many instances of voter id fraud in the past few decades.

And its not as if getting a proper ID can be a financial burden on some people who don't have the luxury of hours to fill out forms, wait in lines, take the bus or get a friend to drive them, and skip work to jump through the proper hoops for an id.

-_-

Don't they have to do the same thing to register to vote?

And there have been many instances of voter fraud that were pointed out in a different thread on requiring ID to vote.

The question still is: How is it ok to require postage (a surcharge) to allow someone the right to vote absentee, yet we can't require ID because people have to pay for the ID, even though IDs are free in most instances?

[smileyeagle1021]

Don't they have to do the same thing to register to vote?

And there have been many instances of voter fraud that were pointed out in a different thread on requiring ID to vote.

First, no, they don't have to do all that to register to vote... all that is required to register to vote (at least in Utah and Nevada, I've done both) is your name, address, and signature, which can be filled out in most counties at public libraries open 7 days a week.

And are we talking about the same "many" instances of voter fraud that numbers less than the number of people struck by lightning? I don't know the exact numbers for either, but I do remember that in 2008 more people were struck by lightning than attempted in person voter fraud. Hell, if memory serves, statistically a poll worker was more likely to get struck by lightning walking to the polling place than having someone attempt in person voter fraud.

[Aethian]

The question still is: How is it ok to require postage (a surcharge) to allow someone the right to vote absentee, yet we can't require ID because people have to pay for the ID, even though IDs are free in most instances?

Because unless its under one of the government sponsored "free" items to ship...we don't work for free?

[Anthony K. S.]

IDs are free in most instances

You keep saying this, even though people have repeatedly pointed out that the documents needed to acquire those IDs require time and money to obtain.

Those IDs can only be considered "free" if you only look at the very end of the process, and completely ignore everything required to get to that point.

That's the argument. The problem here is that you haven't offered a counter-argument.

Please, explain your reasoning to us. Why do you believe that the ID should still be considered "free" even though you have to spend money to obtain the documents required to get it?

[Andara Bledin]

And there have been many instances of voter fraud that were pointed out in a different thread on requiring ID to vote.

There are no "many instances." There are some isolated incidents here and there that are so few and far between as to be a non-issue. And even when they do happen, the vast majority of cases can't even get a conviction.

If you really have any interest at all in stopping fraud in the voting system, going after voters is just about the most ass backwards way you could do it, since about 95% of all election fraud is perpetrated by the system, not the voters.

Disenfranchising hundreds of thousands of law-abiding voters just to stop the dozen or so that might vote illegally, is asinine, at best, and absolutely anti-American.

^-.-^

[daleduke17]

Let me ask you this question: Why do people have to show an ID to register to vote, but aren't allowed to show an ID when voting? Isn't that still requiring an ID to vote? I had to show my current DL (which cost money) and a utility bill (which cost money)... isn't that still a poll tax?

[smileyeagle1021]

Let me ask you this question: Why do people have to show an ID to register to vote

news to me... I never had to show my ID to register to vote... neither did my husband, my mother, my mother in law, my father in law, any of my sister in laws, my roommate, my coworkers that I have asked...

[Hyena Dandy]

Neither did I. And I HAD my ID in case I was going to need to.

[Aethian]

I had to show my voter registration card but that was all. And it was something that got updated when I changed my address.

[crashhelmet]

Let me ask you this question: Why do people have to show an ID to register to vote, but aren't allowed to show an ID when voting? Isn't that still requiring an ID to vote? I had to show my current DL (which cost money) and a utility bill (which cost money)... isn't that still a poll tax?

You didn't pay for your driver's License to be able to vote. You paid for your license to be able to drive. You don't pay your electricity bill to be able to vote, you pay for it to provide power to your residence. They are requested to verify who you are and where you live. They are used to make sure you're registered for the proper district, so that you vote in the proper polling places and for the proper laws and candidates based off of your address. That is why you provide them when you register.

[AdminAssistant]

I just re-registered to vote, and all I needed was a SSN.