Encouraging honest democracy by making it laborious and difficult to vote

rambot · Saturday at 6:17 PM

So long as it affects other people and not you yourself, what are your thoughts on this?

And what if it ends up effecting you in some way?

"You require a passport level proof to vote". Several days later:

Nonprofit libraries ordered by State Department to stop processing passport applications

What do it take to convince you this government is trying to impede the voting process, if indeed they are?

chevyontheriver · Saturday at 8:18 PM

rambot said:
So long as it affects other people and not you yourself, what are your thoughts on this?

And what if it ends up effecting you in some way?

"You require a passport level proof to vote". Several days later:

Nonprofit libraries ordered by State Department to stop processing passport applications

What do it take to convince you this government is trying to impede the voting process, if indeed they are?

I have been an election judge for YEARS. In the past election my state instituted voter ID. Of the multiple hundreds of voters in the precinct a small handful of people didn't bring their IDs. As far as I know all of them wen't home and returned with their IDs. We handled name changes normally, moves normally, and nothing was different except a judge needed to look at the IDs. It took a teeny bit of extra time. Nobody was shocked by it as it was publicized in advance. One person didn't like it. Several thought it was a positive change. As judges we got the hang of it quickly and I don't think a single person was disenfranchised.

I watch the voting process like a hawk for issues of access and accuracy and custody of the ballots. Voter ID worked OK. It worked for minorities, for new citizens, students, people new to the precinct, and, yes, even newly married women. We had a procedural provision in the event we had someone who had a religious objection to a photo ID so they could still vote.

Oompa Loompa · Saturday at 10:11 PM

chevyontheriver said:
I have been an election judge for YEARS. In the past election my state instituted voter ID. Of the multiple hundreds of voters in the precinct a small handful of people didn't bring their IDs. As far as I know all of them wen't home and returned with their IDs. We handled name changes normally, moves normally, and nothing was different except a judge needed to look at the IDs. It took a teeny bit of extra time. Nobody was shocked by it as it was publicized in advance. One person didn't like it. Several thought it was a positive change. As judges we got the hang of it quickly and I don't think a single person was disenfranchised.

I watch the voting process like a hawk for issues of access and accuracy and custody of the ballots. Voter ID worked OK. It worked for minorities, for new citizens, students, people new to the precinct, and, yes, even newly married women. We had a procedural provision in the event we had someone who had a religious objection to a photo ID so they could still vote.

Why do you think people are so worried about voter IDs?

chevyontheriver · Saturday at 10:34 PM

Oompa Loompa said:
Why do you think people are so worried about voter IDs?

Very very few are worried. And I don’t see reason to worry about the implementation I saw. But it makes good politics to make it look like the end of the world as we know it and springtime for Hitler and all that rot.

Pommer · Saturday at 11:07 PM

chevyontheriver said:
I have been an election judge for YEARS. In the past election my state instituted voter ID. Of the multiple hundreds of voters in the precinct a small handful of people didn't bring their IDs. As far as I know all of them wen't home and returned with their IDs. We handled name changes normally, moves normally, and nothing was different except a judge needed to look at the IDs. It took a teeny bit of extra time. Nobody was shocked by it as it was publicized in advance. One person didn't like it. Several thought it was a positive change. As judges we got the hang of it quickly and I don't think a single person was disenfranchised.

I watch the voting process like a hawk for issues of access and accuracy and custody of the ballots. Voter ID worked OK. It worked for minorities, for new citizens, students, people new to the precinct, and, yes, even newly married women. We had a procedural provision in the event we had someone who had a religious objection to a photo ID so they could still vote.

If a person’s “word” (that they’re whom they purport to be and eligible to vote) isn’t good enough, the government should make getting the required documentation easy to obtain and at little to no cost, (say, $10), once.

That’d be fine with this lefty.

Bradskii · Saturday at 11:48 PM

chevyontheriver said:
I have been an election judge for YEARS. In the past election my state instituted voter ID. Of the multiple hundreds of voters in the precinct a small handful of people didn't bring their IDs.

So how many didn't turn up?

Bradskii · Saturday at 11:50 PM

Pommer said:
If a person’s “word” (that they’re whom they purport to be and eligible to vote) isn’t good enough, the government should make getting the required documentation easy to obtain and at little to no cost, (say, $10), once.

That’d be fine with this lefty.

I agree. And no ID required for any election until that has been done.

Oompa Loompa · 2026-02-15T00:26:22-0600

chevyontheriver said:
Very very few are worried. And I don’t see reason to worry about the implementation I saw. But it makes good politics to make it look like the end of the world as we know it and springtime for Hitler and all that rot.

The way I see it, the only people who are worried about it are the politicians who benefit from insecure elections and the people who are being manipulated by them.

Pommer · 2026-02-15T00:37:16-0600

Bradskii said:
I agree. And no ID required for any election until that has been done.

Nah, let the States keep their own Laws.
(The States will already be ceding their rights to set the qualifications of the electorate, in this tiny, small way and most will just “go along with it” until the same principle is used to tell states when they can open and close their polls, then the fur will fly.)

If the Congress somehow passes this onto the President’s desk I would expect a veto.

If this isn’t “political-theatrics“ and a real attempt to involve the Federal Government much more in the Democratic Republic, (that we all “share”), then the MAGA/Trump Administration would likely give themselves as much power over elections as they can reasonably expect to be tolerated.

(There are people on “both sides” who see the upshot of the Feds controlling who gets to pick who is Leader. This will be the where battle-line will be and “States’ Rights” [this used to be a “Conservative Principle”, the young might not know that] will make a glorious comeback after a decade of it (also) being subservient to Trump/MAGA.)

I do not expect it to be tolerated well.

(I would expect the forum software to allow the “i” at the beginning of the line (since i use that so much) to self capitalize and not force the lowercase, but don’t worry i’ll open a ticket for that yes, maybe?)

chevyontheriver · 2026-02-15T05:21:03-0600

chevyontheriver said:
Very very few are worried. And I don’t see reason to worry about the implementation I saw. But it makes good politics to make it look like the end of the world as we know it and springtime for Hitler and all that rot.

Bradskii said:
So how many didn't turn up?

We had a crazy high turnout, but of course those who did not vote did not announce themselves at the voting location.

The far bigger issue is those who could vote but don’t bother to vote. We see that all the time in terms of registered voters who have neither absentee ballots nor signatures in the election books. Registration is easy, and it’s almost difficult not to be registered. Showing up is the challenge for lots of people. But then voting by mail is easy too and lots of people don’t do that either. And a state ID is easy too. And very very few don’t have those.

Stopped_lurking · 2026-02-15T05:36:25-0600

chevyontheriver said:
We had a crazy high turnout, but of course those who did not vote did not announce themselves at the voting location.

Crazy high turn out? Perhaps at your polling place, but no whole US state or district have crazy high turn out numbers. Not when looking at voting-age voters.

chevyontheriver said:
The far bigger issue is those who could vote but don’t bother to vote. We see that all the time in terms of registered voters who have neither absentee ballots nor signatures in the election books. Registration is easy, and it’s almost difficult not to be registered. Showing up is the challenge for lots of people. But then voting by mail is easy too and lots of people don’t do that either. And a state ID is easy too. And very very few don’t have those.

Maria Billingsley · 2026-02-15T07:07:11-0600

rambot said:
So long as it affects other people and not you yourself, what are your thoughts on this?

And what if it ends up effecting you in some way?

"You require a passport level proof to vote". Several days later:

Nonprofit libraries ordered by State Department to stop processing passport applications

What do it take to convince you this government is trying to impede the voting process, if indeed they are?

Well this administration is not particularly known for it's keenness.

FYI
In many rural areas, the loss of non-profit library services for processing passports primarily impacts Republican-leaning districts, as these regions form the backbone of the "red state" electorate. By increasing the travel distance and administrative hurdles required to obtain the very documents needed for new voter registration laws, these policies inadvertently create significant barriers for the GOP's own rural base.

rambot · 2026-02-15T08:23:22-0600

Maria Billingsley said:
Well this administration is not particularly known for it's keenness.

FYI
In many rural areas, the loss of non-profit library services for processing passports primarily impacts Republican-leaning districts, as these regions form the backbone of the "red state" electorate. By increasing the travel distance and administrative hurdles required to obtain the very documents needed for new voter registration laws, these policies inadvertently create significant barriers for the GOP's own rural base.

Yeah. That's what I don't quite understand. I also saw a map that shows passport ownership is actually high in democrat leaning states compared to republican...

Aryeh Jay · 2026-02-15T13:14:31-0600

Maria Billingsley said:
Well this administration is not particularly known for it's keenness.

FYI
In many rural areas, the loss of non-profit library services for processing passports primarily impacts Republican-leaning districts, as these regions form the backbone of the "red state" electorate. By increasing the travel distance and administrative hurdles required to obtain the very documents needed for new voter registration laws, these policies inadvertently create significant barriers for the GOP's own rural base.

The overall goal is to not make voting easier, it's to prevent the wrong people voting.

eleos1954 · 2026-02-15T13:18:01-0600

rambot said:
So long as it affects other people and not you yourself, what are your thoughts on this?

And what if it ends up effecting you in some way?

"You require a passport level proof to vote". Several days later:

Nonprofit libraries ordered by State Department to stop processing passport applications

What do it take to convince you this government is trying to impede the voting process, if indeed they are?

It don't require a passport to vote ... the same information to obtain a passport is the same as for voter ID. You only need to get a passport to travel outside of the country. They are just saying they will accept a passport if you have one.

Bradskii · 2026-02-15T16:17:12-0600

chevyontheriver said:
The far bigger issue is those who could vote but don’t bother to vote.

I've lived in the UK where it's not compulsory and I'm now in Australia where it is. There are good arguments for each system. But if I had to choose then I'd go compulsory.

Hans Blaster · 2026-02-15T20:43:23-0600

eleos1954 said:
It don't require a passport to vote ... the same information to obtain a passport is the same as for voter ID. You only need to get a passport to travel outside of the country. They are just saying they will accept a passport if you have one.

Only,

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