Hintz and Voter ID
Too often our representatives fail to offer any rationale for their support or opposition of legislation. We believe it is important for our elected officials to lead with openness and to make their positions publicly known. Publicly articulating their position on an issue will result in greater accountability, a greater informed citizenry, and a better democracy.
Both Carol Owens and the office of Roger Roth responded stating that they require a mailing address to respond to if they are to offer their positions. I again requested that they provide the public with their reasons and positions, but have not received a reply. Dean Kaufert did not reply to two requests.
Gordon Hintz replied on March 8 with the following (note - We commend Rep Hintz for providing the citizens of Winnebago County with his position on this bill. I again strongly encourage Reps Carol Owens, Roger Roth, and Dean Kaufert to recognize their public stature and provide the public with articulations of their positions) :
(verbatim) Assembly Joint Resolution 17 (AJR 17) proposes an amendment to the Wisconsin State Constitution that would make it a requirement to provide a photo identification in order for people to vote or to register at the poll on election day.
We have a responsibility to everyone in Wisconsin to conduct fair, honest elections that are truly representative of the will of the people. Supporters of this constitutional amendment feel that photo identification is a necessary requirement to protect against fraud. Investigations into claims of election fraud have shown almost no cases of individuals impersonating someone else at the polls, the only type of fraud identification at the polls prevents. However, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission has shown that identification requirements do serve as a barrier to voting for groups, especially minorities.
A UW-Milwaukee study found that approximately 23 percent of Wisconsin residents aged 65 or older do not have driver’s licenses or photo identification and that less than half of African-American and Hispanic adults living in Milwaukee County have valid driver’s licenses. I feel that such a requirement would not only disenfranchise certain groups, but would also greatly decrease voter turnout at a time when participation in our electoral process is already incredibly low.
Creating this obstacle to voting as proposed is not simply a matter of passing a bill and signing it into law. This measure requires an amendment of our Wisconsin State Constitution. Our Constitution is a document that should be respected and honored, and not changed to satisfy the whims of a small number of politicians. Public policy
should be created to address problems or challenges and increase opportunities for our citizens. This bill does neither.
Thanks again for contacting me. Below is some additional information from the National Campaign for Fair Elections, including a summary of the fraud charges in 2004 that contradicts the perception many of my colleagues seem to have.
Best,
Gordon Hintz
State Representative, 54th District
According to the National Campaign for Fair Elections:
Implementation of restrictive polling place ID requirements creates added burdens for already harried poll workers, for miniscule gain. Data from the U.S. Department of Justice shows that while 196,139,871 votes have been cast in federal elections since October 2002, only 52 individuals have been convicted of federal voter fraud. Most of these convictions were for vote buying or for voter registration fraud, neither of which would be prevented by restrictive ID requirements at the polls.
A far-ranging federal probe into allegations of fraud in Wisconsin uncovered no evidence of a conspiracy to influence the 2004 presidential election. U.S. Attorney Steve Biskupic's investigation resulted in charges against 10 formerly incarcerated individuals for voting illegally and against four others for voting twice. Of those four, three cases have been dispensed with without conviction; the forth prosecution is still court pending. By way of comparison, 2,997,007 votes were cast statewide in Wisconsin in 2004. (Steve Schultze, No Vote Fraud Plot Found, MILWAUKEE JOURNAL-SENTINEL, Dec. 5, 2005 )
Labels: Elections and Campaigns
posted by Vincent at 11:00 AM
3 Comments:
Just to note - We are working to arrange 3-4 addresses in each Assembly District to provide our officials with requests for their positions. Once this is arranged, we will take these extra steps to assist the public in becoming informed of our elected official's positions.
were you asking for their rationale?
3.16.2007
NYTimes - 'Voter Fraud' is a Code Word:
In its fumbling attempts to explain the purge of United States attorneys, the Bush administration has argued that the fired prosecutors were not aggressive enough about addressing voter fraud. It is a phony argument; there is no evidence that any of them ignored real instances of voter fraud. But more than that, it is a window on what may be a major reason for some of the firings.
In partisan Republican circles, the pursuit of voter fraud is code for suppressing the votes of minorities and poor people. By resisting pressure to crack down on “fraud,” the fired United States attorneys actually appear to have been standing up for the integrity of the election system.
...
There is no evidence of rampant voter fraud in this country. Rather, Republicans under Mr. Bush have used such allegations as an excuse to suppress the votes of Democratic-leaning groups. They have intimidated Native American voter registration campaigners in South Dakota with baseless charges of fraud. They have pushed through harsh voter ID bills in states like Georgia and Missouri, both blocked by the courts, that were designed to make it hard for people who lack drivers’ licenses — who are disproportionately poor, elderly or members of minorities — to vote. Florida passed a law placing such onerous conditions on voter registration drives, which register many members of minorities and poor people, that the League of Women Voters of Florida suspended its registration work in the state.
The claims of vote fraud used to promote these measures usually fall apart on close inspection, as Mr. McKay saw. Missouri Republicans have long charged that St. Louis voters, by which they mean black voters, registered as living on vacant lots. But when The St. Louis Post-Dispatch checked, it found that thousands of people lived in buildings on lots that the city had erroneously classified as vacant.
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