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Politician Wants Voters to Prove Citizenship
San Diego County Supervisor Bill Horn is trying to change California law so that voters need to prove their citizenship when voting. He calls it a no-brainer. Others call it discrimination. "It is specifically, I believe, targeting immigrants who have become citizens of the United States," said Jess Durfee, chairman of the San Diego Democratic Party. | Help me here, naturalized Rantburgers. I was born here, so I don't know if I'd be "suppressed" if I had to show proof of my shiny new citizenship. Would any of you have a problem showing the election judge lady your (hmmm...I just realized that I have no clue how one "proves" one's citizenship. I guess I'd bring my passport, but not everyone has one of those.) |
| I'd require everyone to have proof of citizenship prior to getting a voter registration card in the first place, but I'm just an evil, oppressing straight white male so what do I know? |
He said it is a tactic to help keep evil Republicans in office. "We know that their strategy nationwide is to suppress the turnout because the more they can suppress the turnout the better it works for them," Durfee said. But Horn said the issue is fraud. "In L.A. you had 16,000 voter cards that were found with names on it of people who didn't exist in the phone book."| That's not a strong argument. I'm not in the phone book in my district, and I have a voter card... |
To register to vote in California you need only a driver's license and the last four digits of your Social Security number. To actually vote, you need only a name and an address. Seventeen other states require identification to vote, and Arizona has a measure on the November ballot that would require proof of citizenship. However, changing the voting law in California is an uphill battle. In the last legislative session, a measure requiring voters to have identification never got out of committee.
When suppressing illegal votes is a problem, "we are very far from reality" - to paraphase a renowned commentator. I call for surpression of the voting rights of the deceased as well.
Posted by: Super Hose 2004-09-26 |
