46 Comments - Powell - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 1:53 pm: I think that’s pretty unfair Rich. I know Reis’ district voted overwhelmingly for Alan Keyes. - 47th Ward - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 2:01 pm: Well, it’s an interesting comparison. Can we lock them up in jail for 27 years just to see how accurate this is? - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 2:03 pm: I hope this helps Jeanne Ives in her Primary fight. No, I mena the one she has, not the one she is “interested” in next door … - CircularFiringSquad - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 2:15 pm: What is truly interesting is that RxRon’s buddy, Bill Mitchell, let 975 bill get in before this gem. Hmm Snooze you loose. Now we can start rumor they introduced proMandela bill and watch the whack jobs attack them. BTW does FarmerBrucey have a position - train111 - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 2:20 pm: I can’t stop laughing either. History will long remember Mandela. 99% of the residents of Illinois have no idea who the other four are even today. One thing IR certainly doesn’t lack is the gift for hyperbole. - Demoralized - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 2:27 pm: What a complete bunch of dopes. Besides, I thought some of the folks in the conservative wing of the Republican Party thought it was wrong to praise Mandela because he was a Marxist and a Communist. - Johnny Q. Suburban - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 2:27 pm: The Aristocrats! I mean, the self titled “conservatives” of Illinois! - 4 percent - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 2:34 pm: It’s almost as silly as Scott Reeder’s missive this morning where he compared the pension fight to the American Revolutionary War and the Civil Rights Movement. - SonofSuperAbe2014 - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 2:37 pm: Someone should tell Jeanne Ives that they don’t stone gays in South Africa. Her brand of politics fits more with the Congo - too obvious - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 2:47 pm: This is why I don’t waste my time with Illinois Review. - Bill Mitchell - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 2:49 pm: The legislation I introduced is modeled on the Indiana statute which was upheld by the US Supreme Court. The author of that opinion (Crawford v Marion County) was none other than that “conservative loony” former justice John Paul Stevens. Justice Stevens said’ “the inconvenience of going to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, gathering required documents, and posing for a photograph does not qualify as a substantial burden on most voters’ right to vote, or represent a significant increase over the usual burdens of voting.” In essence the inconvenience was limited when offset by the “state’s interest in reducing fraud.” Fraud in Illinois unthinkable! - PhoenixRising - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 2:50 pm: “But, yeah, other than that, Mitchell, Unes, Reis and Ives are just like Nelson Mandela.” Minus the constant violence, enormous unemployment, massive corruptness of the military/police/civil service, current murder capital of the world, and incompetence. I guess that might be some parts of IL, just not the area that is mentioned - wordslinger - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 2:51 pm: Good Lord. Lot of new faces on the Mandela bandwagon these days. Where were you in the 80s, when the United States government was the best friend of the fascist and racist Afrikaaners? The photo ID disenfranchisement movement is just a bit more despicable than the mandatory trans-vaginal probe craze sweeping the ranks of the ALEC mouth breathers. In each case, the motives are obvious and disgusting. If you want to knock down black votes, tell your GOP election judges to put on some pants and go to the precincts and challenge them. Don’t enlist Big Government to do your dirty work for you. - Ray del Camino - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 2:57 pm: Bahahahaha! - MrJM - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 3:07 pm: Fraud in Illinois unthinkable! Please cite an instance where an Illinois voter illegally cast a ballot by pretending to be someone he wasn’t, i.e. the fraud preventable by voter ID laws. – MrJM - wordslinger - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 3:09 pm: With Rich’s indulgence, I’ll take this opportunity to express the joy I had in watching the celebration of the great man’s life. The memorial service was beautiful. Singing, dancing, laughter, happiness. How fitting for a great freedom fighter and champion of human dignity. The fact that Mandela could die at home a free man at 95 is as inspiring as it is improbable, and a reason for great joy. Here’s a man, who stared down the Forces of Darkness, emerged from decades in prison in unspeakable conditions and preached forgiveness and reconciliation. A different kind of man could have gone the other way. Look at Mugabe. Mandela was the last giant of the 20th Century. - Dry Blanket - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 3:10 pm: Why am I not shocked that the Illinois Review can’t spell Mandela? - Chavez-respecting Obamist - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 3:13 pm: I thought the IR would be yelling about how the President is wasting his time at the memorial for a communist. - PublicServant - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 3:22 pm: What’s really shocking is not the comment itself, but that Illinois Review is pretty much middle-of-the-road when it comes to Republican “think tanks”. Who are they to the right of, I wonder? - Lessismore - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 3:22 pm: What a joke! Almost disgusting. - PublicServant - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 3:22 pm: Besides OW, I mean… - Oh, Come On - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 3:26 pm: For me the joke is anyone who is opposed to implementing meaningful steps to curb vote fraud. The voter registration process and the signature identification process were steps in that direction, but are not foolproof. Voter identification requirements are constitutional and serve that purpose. - Logic not emotion - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 3:28 pm: I support the voter ID requirement. Most of the voter fraud I’ve read about was conducted by insiders and that should be addressed too; but this would be a positive step towards improving an election process whose credibility has suffered. - Midstate Indy - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 3:32 pm: I’ll support voter photo IDs when Bill Mitchell publicly attests under oath that he has never cast a vote nor ever knowingly allowed another person to cast a vote on his behalf in his absence in the General Assembly. - Rich Miller - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 3:33 pm: ===improving an election process whose credibility has suffered=== From? As far as I can tell, this latest push got into high gear after the election of a black president. The fact that it would impact black people far more than whites had absolutely nothing to do with it, though. I’m sure of that. Yep. - PublicServant - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 3:40 pm: Rich, they’d have to pay the plants much more if they actually are expected to respond to legitimate questions as opposed to just making unsubstantiated statements of “fact”. - Demoralized - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 3:44 pm: Rep Mitchell: Prove to me that there is widespread voter fraud and I’ll support you 100%. Problem is that you can’t. The voting process isn’t broken as far as I can tell. The only purpose of your legislation is to take away the rights of some to vote. It’s so transparent it’s not even funny. At least admit that’s what you are up to. - Logic not emotion - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 3:44 pm: Rich: Just do a search for vote fraud and you’ll find a wealth of articles and incidents. Here is one… http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/05/ohio-voter-fraud-does-exist-but-not-an-epidemic/ I frankly don’t buy the insinuation it has anything to do with the race. It is simply one prudent step to help ensure elections are as free of vote fraud as feasible. - walkinfool - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 3:45 pm: Mitchell: As you well know, the “fraud” we suffer from has nothing to do with false voter identification. If you don’t know that, you shouldn’t be commenting on this issue. - Phenomynous - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 3:48 pm: One example of voter fraud in Illinois: http://www.ice.gov/news/releases/1103/110317lakecounty.htm And it took a joint State and Fed sting to find it. Hypothetically, if purchasing cigarettes in Illinois was illegal for those under 18, but the state specifically outlined that retailers were not to ask for photo ID from purchasers, then how many underage people would have access to and purchase cigarettes? How many violators of the law would the state catch and prosecute? - Formerly Known As... - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 3:49 pm: @Rich makes an important point concerning the racial element of this that seems to motivate some. Any voter “integrity” proposals must be implemented in a way that does not disenfranchise one group or another in lopsided fashion. Just as any voter “access” proposal must be implemented in a way that does not facilitate fraud. - Rich Miller - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 3:53 pm: ===One example of voter fraud in Illinois=== One in recent years. I don’t believe in changing laws over a small handful of examples. That used to be the conservative position. - wordslinger - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 3:53 pm: Rep. Mitchell, that’s one nasty bill you put your name to. I guess you have to own it forever now, don’t you. How dare you, mister? You know very well your intention is to disenfranchise poor and elderly people of color. It’s a losers’ game, pushed by losers and doomed to failure, as was demonstrated in 2012, but your motives are clear. Your intent is to take the vote away from people you don’t like. It’s 21st Century Jim Crow and you’re the sponsor. By the way, are you cool on free state IDs? How much will that cost the state and where do I get mine? Read your Constitution, no poll tax allowed in this land. Kind of a Lincoln/Civil War/Republican thing. You know very well that in Illinois history, vote fraud, not voter fraud — Chicago, Cook, Collars, Downstate, Dem and GOP — has occurred after the polls closed, when those in authority voted the folks who didn’t show up. That’s why some precincts came in “late.” Vote fraud is not a bunch of individuals running from precinct to precinct wearing Groucho glasses pretending to be someone else. Everyone, do yourself a favor and google “gop voter id backers admit motive is suppression.” Read it and weep. Better yet, read it and get pissed. How dare they? Good God Almighty, the idea that in the 21st Century the big brains in the Republican Party see disenfranchisement as an electoral strategy is like getting hit in the head with a brick. What’s wrong with you guys? Rep. Mitchell, if you want to knock down the vote, get your “supporters” to be election judges. It’s not the job of the state to do your dirty work. By the way, Judge Posner has serious buyer’s remorse regarding Crawford v Marion County. He’s on to the scam. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/16/us/politics/judge-in-landmark-case-disavows-support-for-voter-id.html?_r=0 - Formerly Known As... - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 4:08 pm: === in Illinois history, vote fraud, not voter fraud — Chicago, Cook, Collars, Downstate, Dem and GOP — has occurred after the polls closed, when those in authority voted the folks who didn’t show up. That’s why some precincts came in “late.” === How do we fix this? - Rich Miller - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 4:09 pm: ===How do we fix this? == It’s been done. Electronic voting. - wordslinger - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 4:09 pm: –I frankly don’t buy the insinuation it has anything to do with the race.– Than I can only conclude that you are a willful liar. Based on Logic, not Emotion. - Formerly Known As... - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 4:17 pm: === Electronic voting. === How does casting a ballot by keycard differ from casting a ballot by paper in terms of those in authority impersonating the voter? Under @wordslinger’s example, they can still do this. What’s different that prevents them from doing so? - Commonsense in Illinois - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 4:24 pm: Hey, FKA…where are the prosecutions for this wide-spread, bipartisan fraud you so fear? How many people have been even charged? Let’s get a real problem before we go off on some witch hunt and fix a problem that doesn’t exist. - Rich Miller - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 4:24 pm: ===Under @wordslinger’s example, they can still do this. === Wordslinger was talking about the old days of box stuffing. There are checks to prevent that now. - LincolnLounger - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 4:27 pm: I hate to side with the kooks. Really hate it very much; however, the list of things for which valid ID must be shown in order to participate is overwhelming. In this age of electronic everything, the hysteria with which people throw out terms like “disenfranchise” and “poll tax” at the very suggestion is as silly as the Henny Penny right wingers. Most of us who have participated know of stories from Metro East, Massac County, DuPage in the old days, and, of course, Chicago. We’re aware of the woman who was just charged in Ohio for voting for 6-7 people. Is it widespread? Doubtful, but even one fraudulent vote shouldn’t be just explained away like “boys will be boys.” I simply won’t believe that there are people who do not need ID for banking or so many other essential functions of life, and, it’s interesting to me how very shrill the “progressives” get when this subject arises. I just wish there were better messengers than that marginalized bunch. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 4:35 pm: - PublicServant -, That is one group being Left of still puts you Right of …. everyone. To the Post, Electronic voting has helped quite a bit, and the “finding” of ballots is all but gone, and to see this other than a “dog whislte” issue, given the idea of marrying this “Bill” with Mandela speaks more to what it “is” to some, than what is being sold to the Lemmings … - Formerly Known As... - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 5:02 pm: @Commonsense in Illinois: What are you talking about? I do not “fear” this “fraud”. I fear anything that disenfranchises voters, specifically minority voters. I am also dealing in facts and asking honest questions like, “How do we fix this?” concerning any flaws that may exist in our system. Why wouldn’t we want to improve any points of weakness? Please stop assuming the worst and imparting intent that does not exist. - Demoralized - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 5:06 pm: You already have to show ID or prove who you are when you register. Bills like this have one goal only and that is to disenfranchise people. - North of Foster - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 5:32 pm: That “one example” at 3:46 is incredible. 53yo Filipino woman arrested in 2011, charged with 17 counts of fraud, allegedly voted in 9 elections 2003-9 though she was an illegal immigrant. It’s hard to follow up the story of this outrageous crime–none of the Tribune/S-T/Daily Herald have any further reporting on what happened to her, and Google doesn’t see it either–if charges were dropped, or she paid a fine and settled, or was deported. Search engines seem to indicate that she’s spent 25 years in Illinois as a telecom engineer, and perhaps is still in her job two years later. And general profile might indicate the same person is mother of a “model of Americana”: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1999-10-29/news/9910300008_1_fashion-show-grand-central-station-girls Well, thank goodness that “joint State and Fed sting” was able to nab this middle-aged professional who had the temerity to raise her family and participate in civil society here. Excellent use of LE resources, great police work boys. - TooManyJens - Wednesday, Dec 11, 13 @ 8:53 pm: I just want someone to explain why the signature-matching check is inadequate. Are we positing a band of skilled forgers going around voting in other people’s names? - Logic not emotion - Thursday, Dec 12, 13 @ 12:20 pm: Word: Let me rephrase for you then… I don’t buy the insinuation that it has anything to do with race for myself or the great majority of people. There may be a few racists out there (from all races); but I don’t think any of the bill sponsors are among them. They are trying to take a reasonable and prudent step to address a glaring weakness in the system. If you wish to claim that voters will be disenfranchised, prove it. If a voter is unwilling to make the effort to get some free form of ID, what are the odds that they would make the effort to vote anyway? Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.