Wisconsin GOP passes voter suppression bill - The Rachel Maddow Show (May 20th, 2011)

Rushing to get it done before the recall elections of six GOP state senators in the coming months, the Republican legislature of Wisconsin has passed a bill which is widely expected to effectively disenfranchise substantial portions of the state's eligible voters. It contains ridiculously strict photo ID requirements which will disproportionately impact the elderly, students, minorities, and the poor, all of whom are considerably less likely to possess the IDs that are demanded by the new law. If you believe the Republicans, it's only a coincidence that three out of those four groups reliably vote Democratic. All of this is happening, by the way, in a state where voter fraud is literally a non-issue, and not one Republican can give examples of widespread voter fraud of the sort that would require a law this extreme. From the May 20th, 2011 edition of The Rachel Maddow Show.

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[Panzerfaust04]

@coolbreezed Apparently it's hard enough that over half of the black population and over 20% of people over 65 don't have one (according to U of Wisconsin). Also, I'm generally against spending money on ineffective policies, and photo IDs do nothing to prevent fraud. The only thing it stops is people imitating someone else at the polls, and that almost never happens. Read the study I linked in one of my previous comments, it does a great job of explaining it.

[Panzerfaust04]

@prooc Why do conservatives always show up on my videos, spew uneducated garbage, and then never come back to defend their ideas when challenged? Is it possible that you have nothing to defend yourself with and you know that so you think silence is the best alternative? All I know is it's been three days since you came in here acting high and mighty, and all you've done since is ignore my responses (probably because they contain facts) and stay away. Way to make your movement look good, idiot.

[Panzerfaust04]

@prooc I decided that you're unlikely to actually come back and do the work, because conservatives never seem to return to defend their statements, so I did it for you. A 2007 study from NYU showed that a person is less likely to commit the kind of fraud a photo-ID would eliminate (imitating someone else at the polls) than they are to get struck by lightning. Here's the whole study: brennan.3cdn.net SLASH c176576c0065a7eb84_gxm6ib0hl DOT pdf

Any comment?

[Panzerfaust04]

@prooc I'm not saying voter ID bills are wrong to have, by the way. Where I live, you can show either a photo ID, or show a non-photo ID with a utility bill (or similar document), or have a fellow registered voter vouch for your identity. Know how much of a problem there is here with voter fraud? None at all. So why does Scott Walker insist on draconian photo-ID only laws that will disenfranchise way more people than the laws we have here do? The answer: he doesn't want Democrats to vote.

[Panzerfaust04]

@prooc You literally don't know anything about anything. Come back and show me some evidence of voter fraud occurring in Wisconsin. I don't mean like "one accident six years ago", I mean actual evidence that there's enough of a problem with voter fraud in the state to justify disenfranchising thousands of seniors, minorities, and young people by denying them their right to vote. You will not be able to find any because voter fraud is a nonexistent problem.

[httm241]

every time i hear the tea party do something horrible i doubt this country even further

[coolbreezed]

Who doesn't have a picture ID? Its not a burden to get one. This voter suppression nonsense is BS.

[coolbreezed]

@Panzerfaust04 Why is it such a burden to ask citizens to have a photo ID? Not that difficult to get if you're a citizen of the state. Bill is just fine.

[NightTurkey82]

death to republicans

[prooc]

Hahahahahahha, the republicans actually passed a bill that makes it harder for democrats to register people who don't exist and bus people in on the same day to commit fraud and the democrats are going crazy over it, lmao, what a complete. I hope people realize that the whole argument that the democrats are using about the bill being descriminatory is just a ruse to cover up their true motives.