On 2/10/2016 6:16 PM, John H. wrote:
On Wed, 10 Feb 2016 16:41:54 -0500, Justan Olphart wrote:

On 2/10/2016 1:29 PM, Keyser Söze wrote:
On 2/10/16 1:22 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 2/10/2016 11:44 AM, Keyser Söze wrote:
On 2/10/16 11:35 AM, wrote:
On Wed, 10 Feb 2016 11:23:53 -0500, Keyser Söze
wrote:

...not my first choice, and I'm not sure 'Mericans are unbiased enough
to vote a New York Jewish Democratic Socialist into office, but I
don't
have any serious policy issues with him, and this issue is certainly
one
I favor:

Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders called for a constitutional
amendment to automatically register all *eligible* voters during a
Democratic candidate forum on Friday night.

He said he wanted to see legislative reform or “maybe even a
constitutional amendment that says that everybody in America who
has 18
years of age or older is registered to vote, end of discussion.”

Sanders blasted politicians who pass laws making it harder for
people to
register to vote. States across the country have passed new laws—most
pushed by Republicans—that require a photo ID to register to vote or
limit when people can register.

“People who suppress the vote are political cowards and are
undermining
democracy,” Sanders told moderator and MSNBC host Rachel Maddow during
the forum at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina.

“What the Republicans are doing is so un-American, it’s outrageous, it
is beyond belief,” he said. “If they can’t face a free election, they
should get another job.”

In his many elections, Sanders said, “it has never occurred to me as a
candidate to figure out the way to deny people the right to vote
because
they might vote against me.”

- - - - -

Sanders is spot-on...there's very little voter fraud in this country,
and the only reason the Repubs are pushing for tougher laws is to
limit
the vote.

Nobody really investigates voter fraud. Our TV station had no problem
finding it and even talked to some of the people to verify that they
were resident aliens, not citizens but it didn't go anywhere. The
answer is simple. The guy who won has no interest in calling into
question whether his win was valid and the loser is simply a sore
loser.

I do find it interesting that the same people who think the government
should have the power to require photo IDs for firearm purchases,
driving cars, opening bank accounts, buying cigarettes and even buying
cold medicine think voters should just be accepted blindly if they
just show up. I guess the assumption is that illegal aliens must be
democrats.


Uh-high, right, of course. The Repubs pushing for it just don't seem to
be able to come up with multiple serious occurrences, because "no one
really investigates" it. I get it.

What Bernie is advocating is simple: if you are qualified to be a
registered voter at age 18, you are registered. Has nothing to do with
voter ID, because once you are registered, the ID is issued
automatically, even if the Republican legislators in your state don't
want you to vote.


Again, the operative word in Bernie's proposal is "qualified" or
"eligible". As long as that is defined as being a US citizen, I have no
problem at all with his proposal.



I agree..."qualified," and simply defined and enforced, is the key.

Interestingly, in the years we have lived in Maryland, I have never been
asked to produce an ID to vote. When I go to the precinct, someone at
the check-in table looks up my name on a computer printout booklet, says
"OK," and hands me the form to hand to the voting machine "keepers." I
"registered" when I first applied for a Maryland drivers' license.

How did they know what your name was/is?

Harry's story doesn't quite jibe with the Maryland Board of Elections:

http://www.elections.state.md.us/vot...dex.html#chap2

But then, who would have expected that it would?

Not taking sides here but I think you misunderstood what Harry said.
The link you provided outlines how you *register* to vote, not *how* you
vote. Harry said he registered when he first applied for a driver's
license.

My voting experience in MA is similar. Go to the polling station, stand
in line, approach the official seated at a table and tell them my name
and address. They look it up on the sheet of registered voters, hand me
a ballot and say "Vote". Never asked for an ID.