Texas Voter Cards AND Elections Delayed

I'm not aware of any conspiracy; but, given the timing and the political leanings of our Governor and many Texans, I wouldn't be surprised to find out there WAS a conspiracy to ... Keep Texans out of the 2012 elections.

1st - We don't have a voter card YET! The GOP primary has been delayed twice that I know of because we don't have cards yet.

2nd - Gerrymandering - redistricting issues - are still being appealed and re-judged and at one point they said we'd use the old maps for this election season until things are settled in the courts - then another judge said no to that ruling, that we'll just have to wait on the new maps - which are still being rejudged because they discriminate against minorities and low income groups. Wonder how long they will bat that back and forth without making a firm ruling.

3rd - Voter ID - Last time we voted I had to show driver's liscence photo ID. That's a good idea to keep people from voting twice BUT - poor people can't afford an expensive state ID card. They need to provide a FREE photo ID to the poor people.

Anyway - the elections here are also detained because of the legal squabbles on the voter ID. So, more judges to toss things back and forth to each other like a hot potato (child's game).

Will Texans get to vote this year?

Signed - Have ID but current No Voter Card YET.

hmm...

why am i not surprised by this?


2001 all over again?

Last election I did not have to show the voter registration card. I showed ID and the address matched the list they had so I was allowed to vote. If you have ID you shouldn't need the voter registration card.

Does anybody know how people who use the Early Voting system and the people like hospitalized persons and soldiers who vote by mail get to vote if we have to have a picture ID?

I never voted absentee (by mail) nor early voting and was just wondering how they can do it with voter picture ID now?

reply to post by TXTriker


I had to show both - voter card and Texas ID.

What you say makes sense though - no sense in voter cards if we show ID.

The news here a few weeks back said we'd get our voter cards in time for the April 1st election ... but, that was before the other judge over-ruled the previous one on the maps issue and using old maps.

I've only had to show my driver's license, and I live in a very large Texas city.
Not sure what you're talkin bout there partner.

If they toss the voter card - how will they handle the "stamping"?

Example - if you vote in the Republican Primary - they stamp the voter card "Republican".

If you vote in the Democratic Primary - they stamp the voter card "Democrat".

That's to keep people from voting in one party primary and then voting in the other party's run-off elections.

Since our TDLs have a slicky cover - any stamping MIGHT rub off.

Not only that - if a Republican policeman pulls over a speeder for a traffic ticket and the person's card is "stamped" Democrat - well ... you you know where I'm headed here. No need to finish this one as it's obvious.

Same scenario at the grocery store while showing ID to write a check - Democrat cashier - Republican customer - I needn't say "shortchange" here ... you got the idea.

Originally posted by Trexter Ziam
3rd - Voter ID - Last time we voted I had to show driver's liscence photo ID. That's a good idea to keep people from voting twice BUT - poor people can't afford an expensive state ID card. They need to provide a FREE photo ID to the poor people.

ID cards are expensive? What do you call expensive?? Looks like a whopping $16 and a 6 year expiration to me. So... $8 per Presidential election, if someone honestly has NO photo ID and actually gets one JUST to vote.

I'm still unable to find or even imagine a person so disconnected and removed from daily life and the way society functions today to have NO state ID or license...and yet, at the same time, have some burning desire to suddenly be involved and go vote. The two pictures just don't merge very well.

For those FEW who are both basically living off the grid and out of society yet DO want to vote.... Heck, I'd be all for giving them a State ID card 100% free. It's the least we can do......and I really doubt we see more than a handful per capita that actually fall into that anyway, so it's a safe thing to give without risking much.

It sounds as though you're getting ready to vote in your first Texas election -- congratulations! I've been voting here in Texas since 1970.

Originally posted by Trexter Ziam
1st - We don't have a voter card YET! The GOP primary has been delayed twice that I know of because we don't have cards yet.

We do have voter registration cards. Both my husband and I have ours. If you haven't gotten yours yet, here's the link with instructions: www.sos.state.tx.us...

You have plenty of time -- it's not till April 3: www.texasgop.org...

2nd - Gerrymandering - redistricting issues - are still being appealed and re-judged and at one point they said we'd use the old maps for this election season until things are settled in the courts - then another judge said no to that ruling, that we'll just have to wait on the new maps - which are still being rejudged because they discriminate against minorities and low income groups. Wonder how long they will bat that back and forth without making a firm ruling.

Welcome to Texas politics -- America's most entertaining blood sport. They gerrymander before every election, after every election, and in between when there's nothing else to do. Districts aren't set in stone. We just go vote anyway. Can't stop us.

3rd - Voter ID - Last time we voted I had to show driver's liscence photo ID. That's a good idea to keep people from voting twice BUT - poor people can't afford an expensive state ID card. They need to provide a FREE photo ID to the poor people.

The State website gives a number of different documents available to drivers, nondrivers, and other residents (and even mail in verification here: www.sos.state.tx.us...)

Will Texans get to vote this year?

Yup.

Signed - Have ID but current No Voter Card YET.

It's no problemo. Bring in your ID. You can also contact the county clerk and say you need a replacement.

As the others have said, this is "business as usual" if you're a voter. There's no conspiracy. They're juggling millions of voters, trying to track who's alive and who died, and people "fall through the cracks" all the time. Just contact them and straighten them out. They're not intending to disenfranchise you.

Since you voted last year, you're good to go this year. They let you in even without the card -- they stamp the master list and capture your signature and at the end of early voting they have a good idea who's voted and who hasn't. I always take the early voting option -- much less of a hassle during the presidential election cycle.

It's funny. I sent off for a new voters registration card because I moved to a different county here in Texas. It's been quite a while and I have not gotten my new one yet. If I don't get it by the end of the month, I will look into my options and see what I can do.

I did not have to show my ID last time I voted though. Just my voters registration.

Originally posted by Trexter Ziam
If they toss the voter card - how will they handle the "stamping"?

They use a list. Really.

Since our TDLs have a slicky cover - any stamping MIGHT rub off.

They don't stamp your drivers' license. Ever.

Not only that - if a Republican policeman pulls over a speeder for a traffic ticket and the person's card is "stamped" Democrat - well ... you you know where I'm headed here. No need to finish this one as it's obvious.

Same scenario at the grocery store while showing ID to write a check - Democrat cashier - Republican customer - I needn't say "shortchange" here ... you got the idea.

Not sure who you got these scenarios from, but I assure you that they're fantasy. No cop has ever been interested in who I vote for and the grocery clerks and checkout counters never asked about my religion, politics, or sexual orientation or anything else.

Originally posted by Trexter Ziam
Does anybody know how people who use the Early Voting system and the people like hospitalized persons and soldiers who vote by mail get to vote if we have to have a picture ID?

I never voted absentee (by mail) nor early voting and was just wondering how they can do it with voter picture ID now?

Check the Texas state Elections Division website. They've got all the answers.

Really.

www.sos.state.tx.us...

reply to post by Byrd


Sounds like you've been voting here about one election more than me.

Thanks for that link. Last election we didn't have our poll watcher like usual and they had two voting 'irregularities' I wanted to report. By the time I got all the info from the state and found out there was a huge, long form that required OODLES of documentation and information I didn't have, just to report the voting 'irregularities' - I blew it off.

The first one was they had the hearing impaired volume so loud on the booth that everybody could hear everybody's else's votes. They fixed that afterwards when I complained.

The other one was they were matching votes to numbers which could IDENTIFY which voter went with which vote and I mentioned that to them and they merely agreed.

Since we didn't have a poll-watcher, the hanky panky was on.

So, thanks for that link.

P.S. - You said you vote early. Do you mail it in or go in person? If you mail it in, how do they verify picture ID?

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


You proved the point that voter ID is equivalent to a "Poll Tax" which was outlawed in the 60's.

I haven't driven since 1991. I only kept my TDL for check cashing (which I no longer need now anyway because spouse does all the shopping now) and would have dropped it at the next renewal if it weren't for the voter ID problem.

Mom has neither now that she quit driving and isn't allowed a TDL now anyway because of blindness.

So, yes, there are lots of us who only need it for voting and have voted all our lives.

reply to post by Trexter Ziam
Well, indeed. If that is how one would look at it, then by all means, go by what I'd also said. I see no reason why a state ID can't be issued free of charge.

However, one can't expect to do anything that identity matters for, anywhere in society at all, without some method of establishing one's name. The idea that voting could or ever SHOULD be any different is outright silly unless allowing those who shouldn't vote, to participate is the whole point.

Sure, things need to be fair, but the idea of just making the most serious and precious aspect of being a United States citizen a casual act with no accountability at all is almost criminal.

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000
reply to post by Trexter Ziam

 

... The idea that voting could or ever SHOULD be any different is outright silly unless allowing those who shouldn't vote, to participate is the whole point.

Sure, things need to be fair, but the idea of just making the most serious and precious aspect of being a United States citizen a casual act with no accountability at all is almost criminal.

In my opening post I said that

That's a good idea to keep people from voting twice BUT - poor people can't afford an expensive state ID card.

So you think it's

silly

that poor, elderly, or handicapped people should get to vote?

Do you feel poor, elderly and handicapped people should be labeled

criminal

because they wish to continue voting as they have done all their lives?

Do you feel only the elitist priveledged few 1% should be the only ones allowed to vote?

Your replies are very confusing to me. I can't understand your objection.

I just think the whole argument that people who can't bother to get an ID all these years are actually jumping with the need to vote is ridiculous on the face of it and a red herring for illegals and outright voter fraud to work into the elections un-noticed.

Photo ID does add one serious check to fraud, and whatever inconvenience that may put to a minority of the people out there is more than offset by the interests of keeping the election process as honest as we can manage to. When people lose hope in the process being fair at the heart of things..and it's sure getting there....the system collapses. ID checks on the voting is one small step toward heading that off....but it's an important one.

Originally posted by Trexter Ziam
P.S. - You said you vote early. Do you mail it in or go in person? If you mail it in, how do they verify picture ID?

I walk in, flash my voter ID and drivers' license. They check the list, make me initial, and the I go and vote. It's a PARTICULARLY good idea for the Presidential election, where it have stood in lines for more than an hour to vote. Local and state elections aren't so bad.

THIS year is going to be a real ganzermacher -- I urge people who have early voting for their state to go out and vote WAY the heck early, because it's not going to be fun come election day!

Originally posted by Trexter Ziam
Thanks for that link. Last election we didn't have our poll watcher like usual and they had two voting 'irregularities' I wanted to report. By the time I got all the info from the state and found out there was a huge, long form that required OODLES of documentation and information I didn't have, just to report the voting 'irregularities' - I blew it off.

A faster way to fix that is to report it locally or report it to your choice of Republican or Democrat party headquarters. Reach the right person and you can raise an amusing and impressive fuss.

(The links I gave earlier show how to prove you're a valid voter for mail-in voting)

We got our cards FINALLY! We normally get then right after New Year's. The cards were delayed because of that gerry-mandering as well as the election which would have been in March.

Elections 29 May 2012 ... all ready!