The Supreme Court has upheld a tough state law requiring voters to show photo identification…
Resolving a partisan political battle, the country’s high court voted 6-3 to reject a legal challenge by Democrats that Indiana’s toughest-in-the-nation voter identification law would deter minorities, the elderly and others from casting ballots.
The main opinion agreed with Republican supporters that the law was necessary to prevent voter fraud and safeguard public confidence in the integrity of elections. The Bush administration supported the law…
The decision could have broad national significance because more than 20 states have adopted voter identification laws and other states are considering similar legislation.
The law requires a government-issued photo ID such as a driver’s license to vote in federal, state and local elections.
I really like that part about safeguarding “confidence in the integrity of our elections”. Everyone feel safeguarded?
#58
We are not talking about the *right* to vote. We are talking about some people not having the motivation (assuming that the means for all to get an ID is handled). That is entirely different. If some people are not sufficiently motivated to get an ID, then I feel no loss if they abstain from voting. Voting is a two way street. The state has an obligation to make voting accessible to as many people as reasonably possible but the voters also have a responsibility to show some initiative to take part in the process.
#57 – Poor people have to show ID to get alcohol, cigarettes and welfare stuff …
Not all poor people smoke, drink, or are on welfare.
Listen… what most of us don’t know about the poor would fill a library… mostly because if you were honest, none of us have ever been poor in any real sense, and very few of us actually know real poor people.
#60 – >>I thought it was a right in this country.
No, Scottie –
From Wiki Whatever:
“In the United States, suffrage is determined by the separate states, not federally. There is no national “right to vote”.
From
http://www.usconstitution.net/constnot.html
The Constitution contains many phrases, clauses, and amendments detailing ways people cannot be denied the right to vote. You cannot deny the right to vote because of race or gender. Citizens of Washington DC can vote for President; 18-year-olds can vote; you can vote even if you fail to pay a poll tax. The Constitution also requires that anyone who can vote for the “most numerous branch” of their state legislature can vote for House members and Senate members.
Note that in all of this, though, the Constitution never explicitly ensures the right to vote, as it does the right to speech, for example. It does require that Representatives be chosen and Senators be elected by “the People,” and who comprises “the People” has been expanded by the aforementioned amendments several times. Aside from these requirements, though, the qualifications for voters are left to the states. And as long as the qualifications do not conflict with anything in the Constitution, that right can be withheld. For example, in Texas, persons declared mentally incompetent and felons currently in prison or on probation are denied the right to vote. It is interesting to note that though the 26th Amendment requires that 18-year-olds must be able to vote, states can allow persons younger than 18 to vote, if they chose to.