Poly-ticking

It's Election Season...


Based on the past month's events, I don't know if I'm going to survive watching and reading the news for the next 13 months until November 2008, let alone make it through the local and state elections held in the interim for stupid stuff like local option sales taxes and other crap that they do on days when nobody shows up at the polls.

It really is quite damning to endure.

In case you weren't paying attention, Georgia just had their latest Voter ID law upheld by a court, but I'm certain that the ACLU and all of the Race Warlords will conduct a furious appeal campaign to have it thrown out. They'll probably wait until summer to get started and get some idiot Judge to put a temporary restraining order on the process covering the next presidential ballot.

It's so obvious to me what their intent is in challenging any and all requirements to produce some form of valid ID when registering to vote and when presenting yourself at the poll to vote in an election.

Outright fraud.

You can't cash a check without ID.

You can't have a bank account without ID.

If you've ever lost or misplaced your driver's license, see how far you will get ANYWHERE except in your own bedroom and bathroom without valid, government issued identification.

Some people that I know have dogs that will bite them if they come home and don't present ID prior to entering the front door of their own houses.

Georgia has bent over backwards in this matter, even going so far as to make getting an ID free to individuals that can prove financial hardship, and even COMING TO THEIR DOOR TO MAKE AND DELIVER THE DOCUMENT if they will take the time to pick up the telephone and ask.

That said, look at where many state's voter registration laws have gotten them when they simply take an individuals word at "face value" and mail out absentee ballots without checking the facts first:

Director of King County Elections Sherril Huff today canceled the registration of Duncan M. MacDonald, an illegal registration presented to King County Elections by Jane K. Balogh.

When Balogh fraudulently registered her Australian shepherd terrier-mix dog in August 2006, she knowingly and illegally declared her pet was a legal United States citizen, 18 years old, and a citizen of Washington state; a violation of both federal and state laws. Huff forwarded the case to the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office after Balogh returned a ballot in her dog's name in the May 15 special election.

"This incident provides a compelling example of the need to examine processes and to identify and respond quickly to signs of registration fraud," said Huff. "While we are legally bound to follow registration laws and use the tools available to verify proper ID, we still must be vigilant in protecting our voter rolls and act quickly to forward suspect cases on to the proper legal authorities."

The King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office has filed gross misdemeanor charges against Balogh for providing false information on a voter-registration application. A case setting is scheduled for Wednesday, July 11, 2007

After doing a little Googling, I found that News of the weird has the outcome of the story:

Jane Balogh, 66, was informed in September that she will not be prosecuted for defrauding elections officials in Seattle, despite having illegally registered her dog, Duncan M. MacDonald, to vote.

Balogh, protesting how easy officials have made it for people to vote illegally, put her home phone account in Duncan's name, which is all the proof required for registration, then signed him up, and when an absentee ballot arrived, she went public about her scheme.

However, despite the public confession, Duncan continued to be sent official absentee ballots for the two subsequent election cycles. [Seattle Times, 9-6-07]

Just imagine how many fake voters there are out there that didn't register as a joke or in protest, and how many close elections have been influenced as a result of a dog's vote?