Letters: No more oligarch enablers
September 13, 2012 9:00PM
Updated: October 15, 2012 9:14AM
Please don’t buy in to this “walk in the door voter spin” of Rey Flores (Common Sense, Aug. 23). How does Mr. Flores square the facts of vote fraud with the photo ID. Of the millions of voters whose eligibility has been questioned since 1974 nationally, only 80 have proved there was some type of fraud involved. Seventy-four were absentee ballots filled, only to have the registered voter show up on election day and attempt to vote. How do you check the photo ID of a mailed-in ballot? Do we disallow all mailed absentee ballots?
Mr. Flores, I’m willing as a registered Illinois voter, to assume the cost of providing, at no cost, a voter’s photo ID as you wish. Are you?
If not, you’re really looking to exclude others from voting with a veiled unconstitutional “poll tax.” There is a difference between “government-issued” IDs and being required to purchase the right to vote.
The next step may be to require a paid property tax bill — then only the property owner will have the right to vote. I guess this is what is meant by “restore America!”
Back when I first registered to vote, there were no state photo drivers licenses or IDs. While exercising my right to vote, I will vote to ensure persons of Mr. Flores’ mind-set stay from power. We already have enough oligarch enablers.
George A. Skorup
Channahon
Illegal voting
not a problem
If Rey Flores continues as a Common Sense contributor, I would suggest the name be changed to “Common Nonsense.”
Flores’ recent column (Aug. 23), defending photo ID requirements for voting, demonstrates both his flawed logic and lack of a factual basis for his position.
Accusing the Black Panther Party and SEIU union with bullying and intimidating voters, he gives no verifiable data to support his charges.
He claims we have a president who can’t prove he is a citizen, ignoring the fact President Obama released a valid Hawaiian birth certificate months ago.
He claims government-issued photo IDs are required to travel on a plane, train or Greyhound bus, to buy cigarettes or alcohol or to use a credit card.
Poor people and big city residents, being disenfranchised, do not travel by these means, and do not have drivers licenses because they use more affordable urban transportation systems.
The requirement to show an ID for liquor or cigarette purchases applies only when checking the buyer’s age, and credit purchases may require identification only if the credit card is unsigned.
Flores claims any person can walk into any polling place, give a name, scribble a signature and be allowed to vote.
In reality, a voter signs a ballot request and election judges compare that signature with the one in the precinct voter file. If there is a question, judges will ask to see the person’s voter card before a ballot is issued.
While Flores makes illegal voting sound like a major threat to democracy, the actual amount of alleged fraudulent voting is actually minuscule, far less than 1 percent. While most government officials lament poor voter turnout in elections, and try to increase voter participation, Flores advocates a policy that would greatly reduce the participation of eligible voters.
William R. Palmer
Joliet
