[jogiba]

The measures in New Hampshire are among dozens of voting-related bills being pushed by newly empowered Republican state lawmakers across the country - prompting partisan clashes akin to those already roiling in some states over GOP moves to curb union power.

In states, parties clash over voting laws that would affect college students, others

[Parallax]

Talk about misleading thread titles....................

[jogiba]

Talk about misleading thread titles....................

I just can't fit "Republicans trying to keep college kids from voting" in the title .

[Parallax]

I just can't fit "Republicans trying to keep college kids from voting" in the title .

[reeftool]

Talk about misleading thread titles....................

Actually, I thought what they are proposing was already the law. In NY State, college kids register where they live and either go home to vote or send in absentee ballots as my kids did when in school. Nobody is denied the right to vote.

There have been issues with absentee ballots being challenged. When Kirsten Gillibrand was appointed to the Senate when Hillary Clinton moved on the Sec. of State job, there was a special election for a new House Rep. in our district which ended in a dead heat and absentee ballots decided the outcome. WHile in past years, absentee ballots were mostly elderly people or business travellers who tended to vote Republican, college students now make up a huge number of them and the election went to the Democrat Scott Murphy. The Republicans challenged the ballots claiming that being a student wasn't a good enough reason to qualify for an absentee ballot. The courts didn't agree. This kind of foolishness goes on with both parties when an election is close.

[normhead]

Really, Democrats trying to disenfranchise people.. do you have an example of that?

[raz-0]

Really, Democrats trying to disenfranchise people.. do you have an example of that?

Yes, me. In NJ. They couldn't swing some of the rules they wanted for redistricting, so they decided to "bring the voter role up to date." This involved adding bar codes to the voter registration books that to this day are not used for anything. However, LOTS of people disappeared from the voter registration books. If you aren't in the book, you can't vote. Tried to get it sorted out, and they said I couldn't fix it because I was registered. It took three years and a lot of work to get it sorted out finally.

I ran into a few other people who were affected similarly... all were registered republicans at the time. (I change my registration depending on which primary I feel like voting in at the time I had last registered republican).

Then you have registering fake people, the graveyard, etc. The dems do it around here all the time in the more urban areas. They then organize the pizza and cigarettes buses where they gather up poor folks to go and vote under fake names.

ANYPLACE you have a deeply entrenched political machine, you have voter fraud on behalf of the party in control. After a while, you usually get it on the other side as well in those places because it has turned into a dirty fight that nobody plays fair in. That disenfranchises all honest voters regardless of party.

As for college students, I work at a university, and I can tell you that college kids and voting is a problematic issue. Every year there is a heavy push to register college kids. What you often wind up with are a bunch of people who can cast two votes, and many do. The biggest offenders are out of state students being registered and voting here, but also voting via absentee ballot elsewhere. The other big problem are students voting in two local districts because the registration process is not set up to weed out duplicate registration of an individual. That last problem is probably the biggest issue in NJ with regards to "grass roots" voter fraud.

Parties aside, we desperately need proof of residency to register and proof of identity to vote. There's nothing unfair about ensuring 1 person = 1 vote.

[normhead]

ANYPLACE you have a deeply entrenched political machine, you have voter fraud on behalf of the party in control. After a while, you usually get it on the other side as well in those places because it has turned into a dirty fight that nobody plays fair in. That disenfranchises all honest voters regardless of party.

I wasn't discussing the shenanigans of a few corrupt party officials, hell I was born in the Land of Mayor Daley in Chicago, I was talking about a piece of legislation with the specific purpose of restricting suffrage. You could also find examples of Southern Democrats during the civil rights movement... but that would be something unique to the culture of the south, not the Democratic party as whole.

So I'll ask again more specifically to meet your semantical arguments. Have the Democrats (apart from southern democrats) ever put forward legislation specifically designed to deny a specific category of people the vote, where that was the stated purpose of the legislation? The question goes to the heart of the matter, do Republicans believe in democracy, or do they believe in it only when they win? and find ways to subvert it when they lose. Because clearly this piece of legislation shows Republicans believe on the record, that people not likely to vote republican shouldn't be allowed to vote. And that to me would be grounds for disqualification from the democratic process. let those who tabled such legislation have their right to vote removed. After all turn about is fair play. Playing funny with voter registration is almost as bad, but much easier to correct.


Does that work better for you?

[lesmore49]

Banning college kids from voting....hmmnn.

I've always regarded America as a bulwark of democracy and freedom.

But, I find the idea of banning certain adult groups from voting...in a democratic country appalling and frightening in some respects.

[jeffkrol]

Banning college kids from voting....hmmnn.

I've always regarded America as a bulwark of democracy and freedom.

sorry a bit crabby today....... to clarify "I think we were".... today, not so much.

[clmonk]

Lesmore49 keep in mind they are NOT being banned from voting--despite the title of the article--they are only being told WHERE they are going to be allowed to vote. i.e. Where they are registered!

[deadwolfbones]

Lesmore49 keep in mind they are NOT being banned from voting--despite the title of the article--they are only being told WHERE they are going to be allowed to vote. i.e. Where they are registered!

Right, so... let's say a kid is going to school at UNH, but is from Florida. He would then have to fly home (at his expense) to vote in Florida, and probably miss classes, etc.

[Parallax]

Right, so... let's say a kid is going to school at UNH, but is from Florida. He would then have to fly home (at his expense) to vote in Florida, and probably miss classes, etc.

Or get an absentee ballot and a postage stamp.

[normhead]

Parallax, dude, get with the program. That's what the Repubs are trying to ban, college absentee voters.

[Parallax]

Parallax, dude, get with the program. That's what the Repubs are trying to ban, college absentee voters.

I can't tell if you are joking, or if you didn't read the article.

One bill would permit students to vote in their college towns only if they or their parents had previously established permanent residency there - requiring all others to vote in the states or other New Hampshire towns they come from. Another bill would end Election Day registration, which O'Brien said unleashes swarms of students on polling places, creating opportunities for fraud.