US Instances of Voter Fraud (Megathread?) - Probably a good idea to have a thread on this given how often it's discussed and will continue to be discussed even after November.

[Orion Balls]

-Most jurisdictions have a mandate that you have ID in case you are stopped by the police.
-Traveling by airplane
-International Travel
-Any place that requires licensing for gun ownership
-Operating a motor vehicle
-Accessing most bars/casinos
-Any job that requires a background check will likely ask for it
-Volunteer positions requiring a background check will almost certainly ask for it
-Purchasing liquor
-Purchasing tobacco

A SS card, birth certificate, and two proofs of address are all that are required to open a bank account. All of the rest of these things are generally superfluous. It is a citizen's natural born right to vote, given they are above the legal age and not felons. People who live in larger cities like NY or Philly can probably get by their entire lives without a photo ID. Is it good to have? Yes. But again, I argue the point that people should not have to go to the DMV and pay $13 to vote. Just add a picture to the gratis voter identification card, and be done with it.

Or supply photo identification cards to every citizen, like many countries in Europe. If you want to cut down on voter fraud, doing this simple thing will at least cut out in person fraud.

Also, it's important to update databases regularly. I was apparently still listed as a citizen in one State, when I had moved two States away for ten years. Even though I updated all of my documentation. I know this because I got called for jury duty in my prior State after not having lived there for that period of time. Free vacation!

 

[muh_moobs]

A SS card, birth certificate, and two proofs of address are all that are required to open a bank account. All of the rest of these things are generally superfluous. It is a citizen's natural born right to vote, given they are above the legal age and not felons. People who live in larger cities like NY or Philly can probably get by their entire lives without a photo ID. Is it good to have? Yes. But again, I argue the point that people should not have to go to the DMV and pay $13 to vote. Just add a picture to the gratis voter identification card, and be done with it. Or supply photo identification cards to every citizen, like many countries in Europe.

Again, if $13 dollars once every four years is too much of a hurdle for someone to vote, that person either is too lazy to go vote in the first place or doesn't have the faculties to make an informed decision and shouldn't be voting.

 

[FatalTater]

I only hear people concerned with vote fraud when it concerns the popular vote in the presidential election. Would it affect the electoral college?

 

[Meat Target]

I only hear people concerned with vote fraud when it concerns the popular vote in the presidential election. Would it affect the electoral college?

If a state or party were tampering with ballots in a swing state, perhaps. For example, in 2000 Al Gore (who won the popular but lost the electoral) tried to throw out Florida's absentee ballots from military personnel overseas. The military, as we know, overwhelmingly votes Republican. So Gore could have won the electoral vote if he'd pulled that off.

 

[Standardized Profile]

Again, if $13 dollars once every four years is too much of a hurdle for someone to vote, that person either is too lazy to go vote in the first place or doesn't have the faculties to make an informed decision and shouldn't be voting.

It needn't be once every four years. The expiration date is up to the issuing authority, and a voting ID law could choose to ignore the expiration date entirely. (As most ID-based laws should.)

The indigence argument against voter ID is weak because IDs don't cost the state very much. You could make poor people sign an affidavit and give them their $10 ID for free. An indigent person might have some trouble proving their identity, especially to RealID standards, but I don't see it as an insurmountable problem. Homeless shelters and outreach organizations already assist people in getting IDs.

I'm not one of those people who thinks only white male property owning veterans should have the right to vote, but there is an argument to be made that someone who has checked out of society so completely that they can't identify themselves probably shouldn't have a say in how society is run. You should have some investment in society if you want to direct it, even if that investment is just spending a few weeks with a caseworker finding documentation and carrying a little card with you. If you can't manage your own life well enough to do that, you shouldn't try to manage the country.

You can't get on a plane without a RealID, a body scan, a patdown, a bag search, and an APIS check, and they want to expand that to other travel modalities, but you can cast a vote just by saying, "Yeah, I'm that guy, I'm allowed to vote here." Even when the register says "that guy" has already voted. Seen it happen.

 

[Friendly_AI]

Even countries relying on total control of their citizens do not provide ID for free - you have to pay a processing fee. That's what happens in Russia, at least.
Also, Russia's case also proves no amount of IDs will prevent voter fraud if there are dedicated political meddling activities at the polling stations.
Seeing that US becomes more and more regulated, ID as a requirement for vote will not be surprising.

 

[LMFAOForgotPw]

You know a secure system that when presented different ways appeals to most people I find.

You get mailed a one time token, present ID, and vote via paper. If you’re into infosec then you know all voting machines are fucked.

 

[Dante Alighieri]

You can get a job with your birth certificate and SS card. Both of which are provided for free. There's not really much that you actually need a government issued iD for.

If a firearm requires onerous background checks and waiting periods and there's all these limitations and requirements on a right explicitly worded with SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED, then there's absolutely zero argument against IDs to vote. It's absolutely an issue of fraud and anybody claiming otherwise is either an idiot or evil.

 

[Orion Balls]

They don't let me own

If a firearm requires onerous background checks and waiting periods and there's all these limitations and requirements on a right explicitly worded with SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED, then there's absolutely zero argument against IDs to vote. It's absolutely an issue of fraud and anybody claiming otherwise is either an idiot or evil.

The rights for owning guns are more frequently infringed upon than than the rights for voting. Which is what I am arguing for, right now. I am fighting for the idea that a simple voter registration card (which already exists) has a photo attached to it. Why is this such a point of contention?

E- It's the same voter registration that you get in the mail, with a picture of yourself affixed to it. How on earth would this waste much money? Oh, nevermind. If there's anything the US Government is good at, it's wasting money. But still, this is the simplest solution.

 

[Meat Target]

They don't let me own
The rights for owning guns are more frequently infringed upon than than the rights for voting. Which is what I am arguing for, right now. I am fighting for the idea that a simple voter registration card (which already exists) has a photo attached to it. Why is this such a point of contention?

Because THAT'S RAYCIS'

 

[Orion Balls]

Because THAT'S RAYCIS'

Giving every eligible signed up voter a card with their address, polling place, and picture on it for free is raycis? How old are you?

 

[Meat Target]

Giving every eligible signed up voter a card with their address, polling place, and picture on it for free is raycis? How old are you?

It's not, but ask the people who unironically say it is.

 

[Les Morfalous]

I mean, if it isn't implemented whats stopping me from going around the country on election day and voting at dozens of booths with no consequences whatsoever?

Here you have to vote by place of residence, be it town, village, or neighborhood.The polling officials have a list by which they reference your name.There are of course some, exceptions, so they've made it that you can petition to be added to a list that does not correspond with your place of residence - this is what they do with people who find themselves abroad.Or people who live in city X, but are registered in city Y and are just too goddamn lazy/cheap to go and change their ID card.Of course filling such a pettition with the municipality happens 5-6 months before an election.On election day you go in to the polling station, where they check your ID card, reference it with their list, make you put a signature next to it and finally give you a ballot, which considering that most of the names on said ballot belong to " former communists turned oligarchs pretending to be socialists,"former communists turned oligarchs pretending to be democrats", "russophile whores pretending to be nationalists", "state security agents pretending to be turkophiles" and "a bunch of scam artists who are hopping to break 1% so they can rake in some subsidies(parties get subsidies with tax payer money cause it prevents corruption you see)", it kinda makes this whole voting business seem kinda pointless.

 

[Standardized Profile]

E- It's the same voter registration that you get in the mail, with a picture of yourself affixed to it. How on earth would this waste much money? Oh, nevermind. If there's anything the US Government is good at, it's wasting money. But still, this is the simplest solution.

The US government doesn't issue those. Anyway, it would be better than nothing, but it's still not much of an ID. It's just a record that someone filled out a registration form and said "I promise I am this person and I am eligible to vote in this state and won't vote anywhere else." For me, it was the same process as getting a library card.

 

[Driftwood]

Again, if $13 dollars once every four years is too much of a hurdle for someone to vote, that person either is too lazy to go vote in the first place or doesn't have the faculties to make an informed decision and shouldn't be voting.

Not sure why you are getting neg rated for this. Hell, in my state, it is good for 7ish years and residency requirement? Lollllll...

 

[Smug Chuckler]

Guys can you explain why my dead dog and goldfish are voting?

 

[Billy "the Bot" Bobson]

Why do we even need a Voter Registration Card against a government issued ID? Fuck it, simplify all the various identifying documents to a single, freely available ID card. No need for a Social Security Card, Voter Registration Card, Drivers License, or a Selective Service Card. All that information should be apart of your ID card, and should be free Stop making SSN's act as something it's not supposed to be. I'd be against federalizing something like this, but the benefits of it far outweigh any downsides.

 

[Kiwi Lime Pie]

also, just enable voter id, its the right to vote, not the right to vote anonymously

I'm not sold on the argument that requiring photo id to vote is racist or suppressive when many ordinary activities requite photo verification (namely most, if not all, medical appointments).

I agree. They should be provided free to every registered voter. (Otherwise, it could be considered forcing payment to vote.)

Presently, my state charges US$10 for a standard (non-enhanced) state ID card for those that don't have a drivers license. The fee can be waived for the following:

Standard state ID cards are free to applicants age 65 or older, to those who are legally blind, or to those whose license has been revoked, suspended or denied due to a physical or mental disability that affects their ability to drive. The fee can also be waived for individuals who present other good cause for a fee waiver.

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Normally, I'd encourage absentee voting for those that can't vote in person -- especially now with COVID-19 being a concern and my state deciding that people don't need to wear masks to vote despite needing them pretty much everywhere else under threat of a criminal record. However, here are the concerns I see with absentee voting right now:

Unreliable Mail Service. On the way home from work today, a clerk reported that some of the absentee ballots she sent out on 10-July didn't arrive to residents until 24-July. That gives them little time to vote and make sure the ballot is returned in time to be counted next week. In my neighborhood, mail service is notoriously inconsistent -- more-so when someone other than our regular carrier is working the route. It's not surprising to get mail shortly after dusk or nightfall some days. Finally, there was some ambiguity on how much postage was needed on the return envelopes. Those relying on mail service to submit their completed ballots are at the mercies of the postal system that may or may not act swiftly enough to make sure as many ballots as possible make it to city hall before the deadline. COVID-19 has also created the occasional odd backlog where someone might get no mail for a day or two and then get a bunch the next day.

An infrequent yet legitimate concern is those mail carriers that, for whatever reason, horde or refuse to deliver mail simply not delivering ballots to the clerk's office since they're contained in distinct envelopes that are easy to identify or separate from other mail.

Ballot Drop-off: With COVID-19 being a concern, many people -- especially senior citizens or others deemed vulnerable --might not want to drop off their ballot at city hall if it means exposing themselves to people either failing to take proper precautions or those unknowingly asymptomatic.

Drop Boxes: While a good idea in theory, there's always the risk of tampering or vandalism that could compromise any ballots contained inside, especially those that might be dropped off overnight.

Same-Day Registration: I believe it was two years ago when our state's voters approved the amendment to the state constitution to allow no-reason absentee voting. That also had a rider attached that also allowed people to register the same day of an election. Even though I believe same-day registrants have to do so at city hall, there's still the fact that their addresses will no longer be verified before they vote for the first time as was once standard procedure. I'm not sure how easy it would be to use this to game the system, but Democrats in my state are already trying to find loopholes and ambiguities they can use to their benefit. The biggest example was Dems claiming that the new absentee voting laws allowed people to have their absentee votes counted if the ballot was postmarked on or before the date of an election as opposed to having to be in the Clerks office before the polls closed (usually 8 PM local time). If this were to go to trial and the courts somehow agreed with this stance, it could really muck things up if clerks would be directed to wait for ballots that might arrive late -- something that could cause issues with certifying final results on the timely basis required by law.
(Edited for clarity)

 

[Unassuming Local Guy]

-Most jurisdictions have a mandate that you have ID in case you are stopped by the police.
-Traveling by airplane
-International Travel
-Any place that requires licensing for gun ownership
-Operating a motor vehicle
-Accessing most bars/casinos
-Any job that requires a background check will likely ask for it
-Volunteer positions requiring a background check will almost certainly ask for it
-Purchasing liquor
-Purchasing tobacco

-When they get pulled over they just run or attack the cop
-Lmao
-Double lmao
-Licensing only matters if your gun is legal
-See point 1
-Yeah I'm sure all the ghetto bars are super strict about carding they homies
-Point me to a welfare leech ever volunteering anywhere in history (gibs activism doesn't count)
-See point 6
-See point 6 but replace bar with shady guy selling loosies out of a duffel bag

 

[muh_moobs]

-When they get pulled over they just run or attack the cop
-Lmao
-Double lmao
-Licensing only matters if your gun is legal
-See point 1
-Yeah I'm sure all the ghetto bars are super strict about carding they homies
-Point me to a welfare leech ever volunteering anywhere in history (gibs activism doesn't count)
-See point 6
-See point 6 but replace bar with shady guy selling loosies out of a duffel bag

If you're that disconnected from society and are too lazy to have ID, you shouldn't be voting.