Indiana - A state on the forefront of supressing the vote!

Another fine action of the Republican majority in the Indiana House.

I find it interesting that as soon as the "Dark Side" of the Force gains enough control of government they waste very little time before changing the rules of the game to decide the outcome of future elections.

What the he*l am I talking about?

Well, let me tell you. The Republican majority introduced legislation that would require Indiana voters to produce a government issued picture ID at the polls in order to vote. At face value, not a bad proposal. Though, there is not one ounce of proof that we have a problem with voter fraud in this state, but anyway, who can really argue with this idea? Except, there are those in society who do not have valid ID, or a need to have one. The elderly, the poor, and some of the disadvantaged minority, who are citizens, and have a right to vote too. Problem with these folks in the eyes of the Indiana GOP is that they vote for the Dems. There really are people in this world who don't drive and have no form of government issued ID. They are US citizens, they have a right to vote, and the Indiana GOP's proposal would make it impossible for them to do so.

So, in an effort to find some middle ground, one of the Democratic legislators proposed an amendment that would allow someone without an ID to vote, provided they signed a sworn affidavit, with a penalty of 1 and a 1/2 years in jail for for misrepresentation. This makes sense to most sane people right? Treat them like provisional ballots, which would mean you only count them if their quantity was greater than the margin of victory, and fine or imprison anyone cheating the system.

The thing about this that galls me the most, is that it is a bald-faced attempt to change the rules of the game. It does nothing to address the current achilles heel of Indiana elections - absentee ballots.

These tactics happened in Texas with DeLay's redistricting junta, and it also comes from the same bag of tricks that the Senate "nuclear option" does.

Absolutely disgusting. How will we know if the people's will has been heard in the next election if we allow the rules of democracy to be changed willy-nilly?

How about some stiff penalties and jail time for voter supression tactics?

One thought I did have was re-writing the rules to state that any changes to election rules, or laws that have an effect on election outcomes require the vote of a 2/3 majority?

Just a thought!