Axl S wrote:

misterID wrote:

It's easy to get an ID, they just need to make sure everyone who wants one gets one. Community organizers would be good at this

Are the two IDs typically used in the US passport and driver's license? One simple solution to this that is probably easy to do is just make applying for and receiving a passport free.

Like you say, if they want to check IDs they need to just make sure it's easy for everyone to get one. And easy includes cost but also the process.

You haven’t gotten an answer to this question because the proponents don’t really know or care.

Axl S wrote:

Smoking Guns wrote:

Actually I am saying if you are not aware of issues or someone’s platform you morally should not participate in a vote for the most powerful person on the planet. Can they? Sure. Should they? Probably no.

Are you saying that for anyone where affording ID might be an issue that  they are a) clearly uninformed and  b) even though they have a right to vote it's actually good to create barriers to stop those people voting? That's fucked up dude.

That’s exactly what he’s saying and there are millions that think this way. You see...in America there is no right to vote...it’s more of a privilege. Whenever an election comes around there are a new set of obstacles overcome for a very certain, select people. The awesome thing is that the government employees that are supposed to guide you through the process often don’t care enough or were never trained properly and after sitting in line for an hour they’ll simply reject you for filling out the wrong form or missing something.

It kind of becomes a game.

On the status of DC, PR and Guam - as an outsider it's always seemed weird that you have American citizens that do not have the same representation as other Americans. Since congress is a key legislative body within the US it's baffling to me that people who live in these places aren't properly represented there. Seems like a serious democratic deficit.

This is exactly America. The whole point here is to over represent some people and under represent others.

Smoking Guns wrote:

If you are incapable of getting an ID you probably should not be voting. Every US citizen has a right to vote, but I don’t want every uninformed idiot to vote. If you don’t have an ID that is on you.

Every citizen have a right to vote and cost shouldn't be a barrier to that. What if someone's homeless - should they have a right to vote?

You're arguing to restrict voting access based on socioeconomic circumstance (which already is the case in some places).

Anyway, this problem is fixed with free federal issued ID.

Randall Flagg wrote:

Axl S wrote:

This is incorrect. Quickly googling "Voter Id Laws' would tell you this.

If you want to be pendantic, sure, but none allow someone to register with a cable bill.  And all require a state ID to register, and nearly all require that State ID to be present when voting.  Would you please list those nations, cause the quick google and wikipedia search I did before posting my original statement just confirmed what I said above.  The only exception being Australia, where voting is compulsory, which requires a State ID the first time someone registers to vote.  Only 14 states in the US require ID, and those laws are being contested in court as we speak.

Point being the standard for identification in the US is vastly lower than any western nation, and only in the US can you vote in some states without an ID, which is not the case in any Western nations.  But please let me know where I'm wrong, and I'd love to hear your discussion on the topic and not trying to snipe me.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_identification_laws

I mean I live in a country (the UK) that doesn't. You need a valid NI number when registering (equivalent of SSN) on the electoral roll but when you turn up at the polls you just state your name and address. Just saying it isn't all Western countries like you stated.

I have no problem with ID at the polls in countries where folk are issued/have access to National ID cards for free. I think where none of that is provided and you rely on passports or driver's licenses, then you run into issues. Typically applying or renewing one of these things costs money and whilst it may not be a huge amount for you or I, for others it could be and is therefore a barrier to voting.

I think instead of fixating on just one aspect of this, there should be a wholesale review of the process of voting in the US and afterwards there should be widepspread reform. Things like gerrymandering and leaving people in situations where their nearest polling station is multiple hours drive away seem like big issues too. Dealing with one issue in isolation probably fixes one problem and creates new ones, got to tackle the whole piece.

Anyway, my point was 1) Other countries do mail in voting fine, without ID checks. 2) Other countries do in person voting fine without ID checks at the polls. It can be done. If I were a US citizen I wouldn't get hung up on these two issues. It's my understanding that incidents of voter fraud are relatively low and in small enough numbers when it does occur that they aren't swinging elections - happy to be proven wrong on this though.

I wanted to post something but doesn't really need its own thread....

Remember that obscure actress I used to rave about on the old site, Rona De Ricci?

Found out last night that she killed herself last year.

It really threw me for a loop. Took me a few hours to get to sleep.

Out of the blue, she wrote her memoirs last year right before she killed herself. I bought it. Since watching The Pit and the Pendulum on HBO when I was 16, always wondered what happened to her. This book tells you.... apparently she was up for the female role in Steven Seagal's Under Siege, he wanted to fuck her, she refused, didn't get the role, was essentially blacklisted, and she became so jaded she walked away from the industry and spent her life in a shitty, dysfunctional marriage, dealt with severe depression (obviously), and her kids even turned on her.

She posted her suicide note on Instagram. Only had 37 followers.

The fact no news outlets picked up on this story really shows how obscure she really is.

I'm no longer putting off reading it.

She was only in two films.

The Pit and the Pendulum

The Peninent...an obscure 1988 film out of print and no trailer on YouTube. I saw it back in 97. Not very good but she was great in her small role.

RIP Rona

You obviously had talent and it's unfortunate how what should've been an exciting time when your career was just starting to blossom had to be ruined like that.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OQmEa5OKyOI/S … icci04.jpg