Did the Republicans Just Steal The White House in '08?

I know everyone's busy worrying about whether Obama's not blue collar enough or Hillary's not man enough, but this is important. As PunditMom notes, the Supreme Court just gave a big win to the Republicans on Monday that could affect the outcome of the entire 2008 election. As I was literally a stone's throw from the California State Capitol (more on that later), I turned CNN on briefly to find Wolf Blitzer discussing the case. Having watched the Supreme Court hand the presidency to Bush in 2000 re: Florida and then having seen all kinds of evidence that Ohio voting machines were tampered with in 2004 (not to mention the voters turned away from voting), I got this queasy feeling in my stomach again... the same one...

Republicans say they're fighting voter fraud, and that may well be true on some levels, but they are also going to shut out Democratic voters and potentially create a state of chaos that would allow hundreds of thousands of voters to be turned away either because they came without an ID or because their IDs are invalid.

Currently our system allows us to sign under penalty of perjury that we are the individual we say we are, and the poll workers cross check that we are on the list. That's great. I could theoretically send my sister or my friend to say they're me and vote as me and no one would ever know the difference, or someone else could find out my polling place and pretend to be me and vote, which would be bad. So I get the fear of or interest in protecting voters by putting another layer in place.

The reality is that many people will just be turned away - legitimate voters. Here's the thing about using IDs: it's not just about lower income individuals not having the $16 to buy a driver's license. It's also about awareness that they need the licenses, and it's about the poll workers being adequately trained in detecting fakes. And there's always an issue about what kind of identification counts. Some people may bring passports, others could carry birth certificates. What constitutes valid identification? It's one thing when you miss a flight because you were unaware you needed ID to board the plane; it's another when your constitutional right is taken away because you missed a memo.

Now I have to put on my information security hat (I know a lot about this area not worth going into here, but just take my word for it) and say that there's ample evidence that a national ID system won't work and part of the problem is the potential for fraud that they're still finding on the state level. Poll workers get very little training, they often get very few breaks, and they have less experience than bouncers in terms of identifying people using fakes for entry. I fear that a new system would over-rely on the use of identification and under-rely on the voter lists. Not that we don't have problems with voter lists too, but that's another story.

It's difficult to know how far this case will go in terms of reciprocity, but if other states start adopting the same practice - especially if any of them try to enact it before November - things could get crazy. Do we want Indiana to be the next Ohio or Florida? Too many people are overconfident that the Democrats will win the White House no matter who is the nominee, but if you look in the Republican playbook for recent schemes, this latest one reeks of venom.

Sarah Granger would really like it if Democrats would stop worrying that Hillary is trying to steal anything and instead focus on the real opposition.

Comments

[John J.]

No, this definitely wasn't lost on all of us. A similar law had gotten passed here in Missouri before the 2004 election. Fortunately, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled it was against the constitution (I think the Missouri one) and overturned it in time for the election. I was so glad that they had reversed the law that I went to the polling place with just a utility bill to test that the poll workers were actually following the law.

Unfortunately, voters in Indiana won't have that option now. The only good thing is that this wasn't a blanket ruling and that each state will have to argue their policy decisions. In fact, the door is still open to overturn Indiana's law, if argued on different grounds or new information comes out.

[cynematic]

Disturbing. Also disturbing, this breaking story on Talking Points Memo: "Nonprofit 'Women's Voices Women Vote' Stops Suspicious Robocalls" (http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/04/nonprofit_womens_voices_women.php).

Fraud in providing false voter registration information, fraud when you actually get to the polls with IDs required/challenged, fraud in the electronic machinery of polling--sheesh, I think we need some people from the U.N. to observe our elections process. Because clearly Republican manipulation of the voting process in two out of the three examples above means that our process is not pristine. And it needs to be, so as not to make a mockery of our democratic form of government.

[Gunfighter]

Well, fixing elections only works when elections are close, as they were in 2000 and 2004.

This next election will see the Republicans blown out. Seriously blown out.

That is, unless the Democrats are stupid enough to... well, I'll leave off of the incendiary statements for today.

[Scott Shorter]

I certainly believe that concerns about the security of the equipment and declining public confidence in the process are huge factors in demoralizing and disenfranchising voters.

See the Maryland Attorney General's report out yesterday proposing corrective action for voting irregularities for some steps in the right direction - not covering equipment security, but addressing procedural problems.

[Cheryl]

I think more states need to do like mine has - allow voters to vote by mail. It works here in Oregon, it is working in Washington, it can work nationwide, and it will decrease the likelihood of challenged ballots because of ID that isn't "good enough."

[PunditMom]

You KNOW Karl Rove is out there working on the plan now.