Republican bill calls for finger dying to be used in U.S. elections

[Cocoa]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-vote18feb18,1,7067877.story?coll=la-headlines-nation&ctrack=2&cset=true

<snip>

The Republican bill would require voters to present a government-issued photo ID to cast a ballot, illustrating GOP concerns about voting fraud.

Another provision in the GOP bill would establish a pilot program for the use of indelible ink at polling places — an idea growing out of the ink-stained index fingers displayed by Iraqis in their election last month.

"Aside from being an act of national pride, it was also an act to ensure that all those who voted did so only once," said Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the bill's co-sponsor.

[LibDemAlways]

1. I give this proposal a big

non-ink stained middle finger.

The only concern repukes have about voting fraud is that they go to great lengths to perfect and refine it.

[KyndCulture]

3. Here ya go.. Compliments of Randi's board

[Helga Scow Stern]

8. That's just what Common Cause needs right now....n/t

edited because I am so mad I made a typo.

[global1]

2. Makes Them Look Like They Care.....

when all the while they have control over the electronic voting machines. All the ink stained fingers make no difference.

[Helga Scow Stern]

4. Their answer to election fraud...

keep proposing more idiotic requirements that actually subvert voting, and make noise that they are aggresively addressing the problem. This is an old bully trick, visible on any playground, or in any fascist regime.

[L. Coyote]

38. Inky Pinky: Idiotic requirements are intended to divert attention from

solving the real problems. Make them fight the ridiculous, and they won't have time to seek useful changes.

Another aspect of inky pinkies: it gives a false sense that all is well, that everyoner has votes only once, while the votes are counted in secret by secret computer codes. What really matters is that the votes count!!

[Hand]

5. Dye this, Bitch, er, Mitch!

Better yet, just die.

[Kansas Wyatt]

6. GOP: Pssst, we can control and distribute the dye remover to our people.

[bush_is_wacko]

15. Do you really think this? The ink is meant to stop people from voting

more than once. If a photo ID is all that is required someone could have multiple photo ID's in different names. That does happen.

I wish I could say your scenario is totally ridiculous but I KNOW it's not. I just think it wouldn't be as bad as all that. I hope anyway.

[Kansas Wyatt]

24. If Republicans want to dye voters' fingers....

To keep people from voting more than one time, then you can count on Republicans having a way to beat and control the system. Wouldn't surprise me if the President of the newly founded lone dye removing company, was promising to deliver elections to his Republican buddies as I write.

[Vincardog]

35. The real purpose of Government issued picture IDs is to repress

the vote of the underclass. Remember JIM CROW? Same Sht different day.

[rkc3]

7. Apparently, some one in DC has a lot of fucking time on his hands.

[global1]

16. And A Lot of Ink. n/t

[bush_is_wacko]

9. I actually don't mind the indelible ink thing! I think it would stop

the VERY limited amount of actual "voter fraud" that is going on. And it would sure as heck make the poll worker's job easier if they could clearly identify someone that had voted.

I WON'T be so happy if they mandate that God Awful bushitler salute the thugs tried to use at the State of the Union address though!

BTW, this is pure rhetoric and we all know it, but it won't kill any of us to have blue fingers for a couple days. If they make voting day a national holiday it would sort of be like wearing green on St. Patrick's Day or Red, White and Blue on the Fourth of July.

Do you have some sort of objection that I can't grasp?

On Edit: man I didn't proof read this this at all. Hopefully my corrections make it a little more readable! Sorry about that!

[BeFree]

10. An inked stained finger

How simple can you make it?

With the ink stained finger, raised in salute to the republican party as evidence that you are somebody allowed to vote, the world could see a rapid return of American Democracy.

With the ink stained finger, all the complicated registrations would be thrown out the window and everybody who works, plays, and is somebody, would be able to walk right up and vote. Every Body.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

48. Agreed, it must be

It MUST be the middle finger dipped in the ink!
Love it. :shrug:
darn, I couldn't find one of those nice little middle finger smilies!

[RaleighNCDUer]

19. By focusing on the blue finger

it takes the attention away from BBV, from tally machines with proprietary codes controlled by RW companies, from RW SOS controlling who gets how many vote machines, from purging of Dems from vote roles, from illegally disqualified absentee and provisional ballots.

The blue finger will fix voter fraud.

Right.

[bush_is_wacko]

21. Oh, I get THAT part and as far as I'm concerned THIS doesn't

address ELECTION reform in ANY way. I was just thinking that if they were willing to help pas REAL election reform i really wouldn't have a problem with this.

Again, if THIS would be in addition to REAL election reform. This is just rhetoric.

[sepia_steel]

51. It solves nothing.

It is a waste of time and a diversion from the real problems at hand.
It's also a waste of money, and too easy to get around.

[Kip Humphrey]

11. Next, it will be red ink and blue ink

How better for ensuring the flock, employees, neighbors, etc. vote as the are told to, expected to, required to? Easier to weed out the slackers from the congregation if the evangelical pastors can check their fingers.

Voting is a private matter using secret ballots. Not voting is as much a part of that secrecy as who you vote for. The ACLU will be all over this like, well like india ink on index fingers!

[bush_is_wacko]

18. Make voting a national holiday on a Tuesday, like it is now and

the ink will have worn off by Sunday. I don't think they'll resort to identifying which party you are with. Democrats DO vote for Republicans from time to time and Republicans DO vote for Democrats sometimes. How you voted IS a private matter. The fact that you voted really isn't, otherwise voting day would be more like Halloween for grown-ups. I see my neighbors and relatives at the polls almost every time I vote. I don't cover my face so they won't know who I am.

[Old and In the Way]

12. Three kinds of ink.

Blue = Democrat / Red = Republican / Green = Greens/Other.

I'd go for that

[global1]

17. Would Make The Exit Polls More Accurate!!!! n/t

[RaleighNCDUer]

20. Sure. It would let them know which ballots to disqualify. n/t

[bush_is_wacko]

23. How so? If everyone that voted had a blue finger how could that

help them tell who voted for who?

This really doesn't address much of ANYTHING as far as I'm concerned. The number of voter fraud cases is nearly insignificant to the number of ELECTION fraud cases and disenfranchisement and so on.

If they were willing to address the REAL issues would this still be offensive to you? Sometimes you got to throw a bone to get something in return, right?

ONLY if they made EVERY voter do this AND they worked with us on ELECTION reform, of course.

I do see that this could be slightly manipulated, but again I don't think the citizens are the REAL problem, I think it's the process that they control that is the REAL problem.

[RaleighNCDUer]

27. OK, I admit, I gave a snarky little answer.

The blue finger might not hurt, though I'm sure some enterprising individual is working out a way to use it to jigger the results.

The problem is, focusing on a cosmetic solution distracts from all the real problems. If, as you say, they addressed the real issues as well, great. I just think they're going to do this and say, 'look at us - we fixed voter fraud!'.

[bush_is_wacko]

36. They probably will but doesn't this give us the chance to make them look

like shit when they say "We fixed it"? If they want publicity over their fix and you know they can't resist that, they will have to go on some of these shows and sit next to people that are willing to say. No, you didn't FIX anything these things occurred all over the country, now how do you plan to "fix" them? and BTW VOTER fraud was less than one tenth of one percent of the issue. ELECTION fraud occurred rampantly all across this country and Republicans own all the election equipment, do you think that is a problem?

[Old and In the Way]

28. I only posted that in half jest.

But if this proposal gains steam, it wold be a good amendment for the Democrats to add to it.

Could it be skewed? I guess....but by who? The Democrats? How many Democrats would opt for the red paint and vote for their Democratic choice? Conversely, why would it be in a Republican's interest to have his color blue?

Just thinking out loud....it would make for an interesting exit poll. It would be unobtrusive. Sure, one could hide his/her hand in his/her pocket....they'd have to go into the "unknown" column. But it would be a check on the system.

[bush_is_wacko]

37. Actually, if they tried the color thing I might go for the opposite color.

That way maybe they would keep their hands off the machines and the election would end up legitimate because they thought they were winning! Maybe we should consider the red paint, blue paint thing????

[Old and In the Way]

40. I'd like the exit polls not to be released until that last state

closes its polls.

[bush_is_wacko]

53. Agreed! But how do you get everyone to abide by that. Media and the

executive branch of our government are connected at the hip. Really that has been the case since Kennedy and to a lesser degree the radio was a tool even before that era.

I think it's going to be real hard to change that dynamic. The media would have to do it on it's own.

[RaleighNCDUer]

54. I'm afraid that would just give certain people more opportunity

to 'fix' the exit polls to match the results, as we saw going on with the later exit polls of 11/2.

[Catamount]

31. I like this one, along with real reform!

[demodonkey]

32. Why three kinds of ink?

What difference does it make what party you belong to?

And -- as a pollworker I can tell you that if the voters were indelibly marked by party, a lot wouldn't vote anymore. A lot of voters don't want their politics to be known to others. Some people get VERY upset if their party is even announced to the other pollworkers (which has to be done, especially for Primaries in my state when the machine has to be set for the voter's correct party before they use it).

[BeFree]

13. An open door

Mitch McConnell has opened a door wide enough to drive a hijacked diebold armored car through.

Imagine how simple it would be for registrations and all that jazz?

Just show up, give 'em your name, and vote. We wouldn't need the massive registration files now kept to keep track of us voters.

One would no longer be required to 'Show us your papers, pleeez', one could walk in, dip thy finger in the well of honesty, and vote their little old hearts out.

Somebody get that bill number, and let's all give ol' Mitch a pat on the back!

[ClassWarrior]

14. Just watch out for roving packs of Klansmen, Nazis, and Freepers...

...with ink pads on e-day.

NGU.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

22. There go those wacky, zany

rePubs again! Making jokes about something as serious as voting. What's next, our SSN's tattoed on our forearms? :shrug:
Seriously, what was once know as the 'loyal opposition' has transformed itself into the party of nincompoops. It seems nearly everyone associated with the rePub party has a habit of using simple answers for complex problems.

[global1]

25. And We Could Call The Freedom Fingers!!!! n/t

[Igel]

26. I like the ID proposal; I dislike the ink proposal.

Unlike some, I don't want just anybody voting. Exchange students and old-looking 16 year olds, for example.

The reason I dislike the ink proposal: absentee ballots. What, people are supposed to dip their own fingers into ink?

[Wilms]

30. Good one igil.

I kept scrolling waiting for someone to point out absentee voting in regard to this finger inking scheme.

[skids]

29. I would stain my finger for democracy...

If it poured cold water on the idea of photo ID checks, I would do it. I wouldn't like it. But I would do it.

Folks, try to separate the issues of voter fraud and election fraud. Fighting a voter fraud proposal is only good when that proposal is used to disenfrachise voters, like photo IDs which the poor sometimes can't come up with.

No, it doesn't address election fraud. That's no reason to make a stink over it.

About the only way I figure they could use finger staining to disenfranchise voters is by holding voters down and staining their fingers before they vote. I'm sure some will try, but...

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[Trish1168]

34. Give me a break

That's the stupidest idea I ever hear.

Does their bill mention anything about electronic voting machines?

Judging by the exit polls (wrong for the third cycle in a row), they GOP is very successful at the vote fraud thing. They want to use this ink thing as a pretense. Like with everything else, its all about faking the image.

[New Earth]

39. THAT IS IT

they think we are so fucking stupid!!!! man, after i put Jada to bed i am sitting down and writing a LTTE kind of piece and i'm sending wherever i can and posting it all over b/c this is all absolute bullshit and these guys need to know we are NOT FOOLED and that the biggest problem in our elections is THE MACHINES, NOT THE FUCKING VOTERS!!!!! omg i could screeaammmm i have PMS and this is not good!!!!! :nuke: :nuke:

[keepthemhonest]

41. Good Faye

This is the most ridiculus and insulting thing I have heard. Yes it's the regular people that are committing the fraud and changing the outcome of the election, not the big wigs committing election fraud(largest in history,) that is the problem.I am with you Faye this is bullcrap and insulting and they are making me feel like I am PMSing.
So add somemore nukes to your nukes. They are too busy making up crap laws to ever get anything real done up there, why they got sponge bob and fingers to dye and all kinds of Crap CRap crap!

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

49. PMS could cure the election woes

time for calgon to take you away, or else time for a nice hersheys bar or something.

Maybe if enough women stormed the US Congress announcing they had PMS, we could get some decent election reform!:mad:

[suffragette]

42. the photo ID is being proposed in state after state

I did some digging in WA after attending an Election Reform Task group that had swarms of people crying voter fraud and demanding Voter ID and other restrictive legislation. This is beginning to look like a concerted effort to divert legislation from true Election Fraud prevention and proper reform. We need to oppose this legislation state by state.
Here's what I found in WA:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x329874

Edited for spelling

[Al-CIAda]

43. Fucking stupid. A gimmick like all the other crimes.

[Chicago1]

44. Once again, they've displayed their stupidity & ignorance

I'VE NEVER HEARD OF SOMETHING MORE STUPID FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE LIKE THIS INK IDEA! Now I've heard it all. They're more dumb than I thought they were.



Waiting for the IMPEACHMENT WHILE THE SCANDALS KEEP UNFOLDING
http://usaworkstories.blogspot.com
America's Work Stories

[hootinholler]

45. No problem if and only if...

They use UV ink. THINK about it. They could have easily used UV ink in Iraq, I mean if Chuckie Cheese has mastered the technology...

No one would have known who voted, but it can be told at the poll? I kinda like the idea.

-Hoot

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

46. and something extra special

preparation H for the republicans who vote.

[ISUGRADIA]

47. I know in Iowa 30% of the voters in 04 did it by absentee

how the hell does this prevent fraud? Absentee voters won't be covered. And I'm proud that McConnell thinks we need measures like a thrird world country because that's what his ilk is turning this country into.

[sacxtra]

50. Republican Bill written by ENEMY of AMERICA!!!!

ANyone who writes bills that do not state the
removal of:

ELECTRONICS
ELECTRICITY
DIGITIZED DATA
AND THE FSCKING INSECURE NETWORKS THE CRUFT FLOWS ON.

ARE ENEMYS OF ALL YOU BELIEVE.

ENEMYS OF AMERICA

SECURE YOUR VOTE NOW!

EAT THAT BAY-BEE!!

[sacxtra]

52. Also SCREW the VOTER ID ACT!

If you don't have a voter's pamphlet.


Savvy?


EAT THAT BIATCH!! (You know who you are)

[deacon2]

55. I'll do it if GOP voters dye their noses brown n/t

[eaglenetsupport]

56. Coming soon... Watch this stock grow. Also it DOES need amendment

Lone Star Indelible Ink, INC

Maybe an amendment should be introduced, No Ink may be purchased from any company from Texas. Introduce it as a serious amendment and make them defend themselves on the record in debate. Conyers and Boxer might just introduce it to make the point and gain exposure. It's possible.