Once again we agree Atlant....but alas those on the left will not allow Voter ID nationally, it will never pass the Senate, and the far right conspiracy theorists / privacy hawks will howl at it being national identification as if SS and the ACA do not already accomplish that.

This could be done like a passport from the State Department; post office to get a photo, mail it all in, receive an ID in the mail.

But for now we need the states to be the petri dishes of governmental experimentation that pave the way for sound national policy. Repealing what we have here in NH makes no sense; changing it sure, but repeal is a step backwards not forward.

Who would pay for the labor and materials to make and distribute these 'FREE' ID cards ? Would they fall from the sky ?
Use political contributions to pay for them. Take some percentage from all contributions. Don't force taxpayers, most of whom already have IDs, to pay for them.

Billnh:

> Who would pay for the labor and materials to make and distribute
> these 'FREE' ID cards ? Would they fall from the sky ?

Don't look now, but governments at all levels already allocate funds for the purposes of running free and fare elections. The cards would be a small incremental cost on top of the already-existing costs associated with maintaining the voter registry.

I realize it would suck for some folks if just *ANY ELIGIBLE VOTER* could actually vote easily, but, hey!, that's one of the problems of living in an actual democracy.

Small incremental ? But don't ID opponents squak that 1000's don't have IDs ? So if we were to pay a living wage to government employees to create all these IDs, and pay their healthcare, you consider that small incremental ? You must be very wealthy.

> Small incremental ? But don't ID opponents squak that 1000's don't have IDs ?
> So if we were to pay a living wage to government employees to create all these
> IDs, and pay their healthcare, you consider that small incremental ? You must
> be very wealthy.

When folks write replies like yours, I always wonder if they're very obtuse or just grasping at any straw to try to make their argument.

Go back and read what I wrote and when you understand it, then we can talk.

Billnh, I don't often agree with Atlant but I do here. He's 100% that they would need to be free. The reason being is the 24th Amendment which reads:
"The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax."

Forcing people to pay for an ID in order to vote would amount to a poll tax.

So mr Barnes, if people didn't have to pay for this ID, who would pay ? Animals ? Gods ? Or maybe every person that was involved in the process, from the mining of the materials up to the handing out of the IDs to the masses, would do it in a volunteer basis ?

I have jumped on the Atlant bus here also...a little strange but feels sort of good.

Billnh, let's be honest, we do all pay. At least the 57% who pay federal income taxes do. But as the Constitution states, there cannot be any taxes directly linked to voting. Courts have already ruled that if you have an ID you have to pay for directly when you get it and you require that to vote, that amounts to a poll tax and it's illegal.

But in reality, for the most of us who work and pay taxes, it's just a matter of it coming from our back pocket instead of coming from our from pocket where we see it being taken.

I could go for that.

Providing the equipment for every town clerk to print ID's would be prohibitvely expensive. Laws enacted after 9-11 require ID's to comply with counterfeit prevention guidelines. Printing licenses and ID's that compy require equipment that is much more expensive and complicated.
That's why when you go to the DMV to get a new license, you are given a terrible temp ID and the new ID is mailed. They are all printed at a central location.
I thought conservatives were against unfunded mandates? Why would you support requiring people to acquire an ID for an inalienable, God-given right, and then expect them to pay for it?
It seems conservatives think only some rights are absolute.

requiring ID for an inalienable, God-given right? You mean like the right to keep and bear arms?

Oh that's right. You want ID, a background check, and a waiting period for that, but let's let any idiot citizen or not pick our leaders!

Keith Thompson - An "inalienable, God-given right"??? Voting???? Really?? New on this planet, eh?

Dennis:

This can be a brand new ID, used exclusively for the purpose of establishing your voting identification. Thus the burden would fall upon all equally.

> Any evidence of any problems with the current system?

Yes. I'm sure testimony to this effect will be presented when the LSR ("bill") is heard.

Seamus, you wont hear about it if the media doesn't report it and the state refuses to even acknowledge when evidence of illegal voting is handed to them on a silver platter.
Case in point:
http://www.nhinsider.com/ed-naile/2013/2/1/who-the-hell-is-emanuel-yekutiel-and-why-is-he-voting-in-leb.html

Mr. Barnes,
What's needed is actual evidence that shows fraud, not innuendo and speculation from the blatantly right wing NH Insider.

Your bashing of the "media" is just part of the right wing background noise, not grounded in reality.

Richard Barnes, do you normally get your news from right-wing speculation blogs? This is not evidence. It actually shows you are clearly incapable of identifying primary sources, thinking critically, or even basic knowledge of obtaining knowledge from mass media. Disappointing.

Ray and ForThePeople,
Did either of you actually read that article? You can dislike the source all you want but everything stated in it is a confirmable fact. There are voting records showing Emanuel Yekutiel registered and voted in NH. He's a public campaign worker for the Democratic party so his information is also available and he collects his paychecks at his address in MA. As Ed uncovered in his investigation, the address Emanuel used was used by another Democratic party worker in 2008.
Facts are facts regardless of the source they are printed in. If you choose to disbelieve a provable fact just because you dislike its source then it is clear you are more interested in partisan politics then truth.

Mr. Barnes,
was this person ineligable to vote? Did this person vote twice in two places? People move all the time, whether or not this person came to NH to work for Obama is irelevant. America is a very transient nation. Prople move for jobs all the time. What's relevant is that he or she broke a law.

Does your wonderful Mr. Naile have that proof? Or is he just blowing smoke?

Richard Barnes,

You linked us to a blog with a bunch of accusations. That's not evidence. You flunk. Your inability to identify primary sources, analyze information, or present a reasoned argument puts you squarely in the Republican party, somewhere around Mississippi level functionality.

Mike:

I'm unclear on what purpose you think is being served by replies like yours.

Do you figure I'll take offense or be insulted by your reference to "Mr. Jan"? If so, you couldn't be more wrong. I am *EXTREMELY PROUD OF MY WIFE*, the Honorable Representative Jan Schmidt. She's hardworking, intelligent, kind, and honest and a better person than I am and a *FAR BETTER* person than you'll ever be.

Or do you figure calling me a "socialist" will insult me? Nope, that won't work either. As I've said before and will say again, I'm a proud public proponent of European-styled Democratic Socialism. I believe we have enough money in this country that if only we'd stop wasting it on the military and wars, we could educate, house, feed, and provide health care for everyone.

Or are you arguing that we shouldn't all have a right to vote *FOR FREE* in those elections to which we're entitled to vote? That can't be your position! After all, only a true *IDIOT* would advocate that!

So why do you post nonsense replies?

LOL mr jan still don't have a job yet, eh ?

"As I've said before and will say again, I'm a proud public proponent of European-styled Democratic Socialism. I believe we have enough money in this country that if only we'd stop wasting it on the military and wars, we could educate, house, feed, and provide health care for everyone"

I guess we really should not have wasted all that money in the first half of the 20th century getting involved in Europe's wars.... If we had just stayed home, those socialist governments would probably have taken over the entire continent...

Atlant, Atlant, Atlant............ socialism is failing in Europe. But hang in there captain. You can bravely go down with the ship!

Proud:

That explains why boatloads of Swedes, Norwegians, Finns, Danes, Germans, French, Italians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Estonians, Greeks, Portugese, and Spaniards are flooding through Ellis Island as we speak, all changing their names to "Smith"; the total and complete failure of their societies.

Seamus,

I think you might enjoy a trip to our local Concord Public Library to read up on European history. It may fascinate you to learn all of the iterations of government that have come and gone between World War II and today.

Of course, American government changed, also. Republicans just don't want to admit it.

I'd cut a few F-35 fighters. At $130 million a plane*, a very few fewer fighters would ensure that we could provide a secure Voter ID to everyone in the country. Or maybe I'd drop the whole program and save (get ready for this!) $1.45 *TRILLION* dollars. That could laminate a few Voter ID cards!

-=-=-=-=-=-

*Note to the detractors: Don't bother quibbling about the exact cost of each F-35. We could argue about this until the cows come home but *NOBODY* knows what these planes will have actually cost us (per plane, including NRE) when the program is completed. My number's as good a guesstimate as anyone's. Here's one reference that leads to $593 Billion per plane, fully-burdened over 50 years:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/29/us-lockheed-fighter-idUSBRE82S03L20120329

Should the state pay for a drivers license?

Steve:

Driving isn't a right; voting *IS*.

One does need an ID to register to vote, so the only people who need one are those that lost their ID and have not replaced it. There is a process in place now where one can get a free ID

So was prohibition. There is no flaw in improving legislation. The human race has advanced because of iterative improvements in government, science, and culture. For some reason, it's been relatively recently that turning back the clock 237 years has become a selling point of a certain political party.