I see where there are accusations of voter suppression in a couple of places.

The three that come to mind as I write are Florida, Indiana and North Dakota.

Parts of Florida got walloped by a hurricane the other day and the system is down for a while but should be up and running if it isn't already. It is typical of the opposing party to make accusations based on things like this. I'm fairly sure that things will be properly adjusted in time to make sure things are on the up and up.

Of course the self righteous liberals are screaming blue bloody murder accusations over this. If the Western Eastmenians dropped a 2000 pound blockbuster on the state voter registration office both parties would be screaming about how the other party is responsible as the Western Eastmenians laughed themselves silly.

The wailing, moaning, gnashing of teeth would be epic.

North Dakota is also under the gun and although there is some merit to the left's accusations, the so called disenfranchised Native Americans haven't lived up to their responsibility, either.

ND has a voter ID law which all states should have. Apparently the tribal ID cards don't align with the requirements of identification set up by the state. There is also the issue of Native American fixed addresses and homelessness involved. Many reservation homes do not have street addresses and PO boxes as an address are unacceptable. I think to some extent the ND authorities dropped the ball along the way. On the other hand the tribal council should have probably stepped up to the plate and come up with a method of assigning addresses even if it meant creating paper roads through the reservation. This isn't difficult at all.

On the other hand, maybe North Dakota should accept the reservation as a bona fide address. It would also solve another problem that has been brought up, that of homelessness. Apparently the reservation has a homeless population. Perhaps permitting the use of the reservation as an address would simply solve the problem and permit the Native American homeless to register.

Incidentally the voter also has a responsibility to get off of their ass and register and before the deadline, too. I hear complaining that the vote is being suppressed by people that have failed to register by the deadline. 

Actually I do believe that the individual Indian should look toward the tribal council for this failure. You can certainly call it a lead pipe cinch that if a tribal ID of sorts had to conform to a certain specification in order to receive welfare or any other government programs that every person in the tribe would have one that is not only gold plated, but boilerplated, too. 

Apparently the little Suzie Cream Cheese whiners want the state to hand deliver their voter ID to them on a silver platter. They claim there are too many hoops to jump through. Yet the same people (not just Indians) that gripe about the hassle involved in voter registration will negotiate an obstacle course in seconds to get on a social program. You have to want to vote and have to be willing to at least exert some effort.

I'm going to call the ND situation a case where both sides are partially at fault.

Voter ID laws are important and while they should never be used to suppress the vote they should be enacted to assure fair elections. It is important that people are alive and only vote once.

Let's take a look at the Indiana purging of voters that has been held up until after the court manages to settle things. The point is presently moot.

From what I have read Indiana has started cross checking registrations and if a voter is registered to vote elsewhere their name is purged off of the list. Registered voters are cross referenced to see if they are registered to vote elsewhere. If so the dates are checked and if the date of the out of state registration in newer than the Indiana registration date the person is supposed to be dropped from the voting rolls.

This makes sense and ought to be a national policy. You can only vote once and in one place. Actually Indiana also should have a duty to report that said people have registered in Indiana and should be dropped from the rolls at their previous residence. 

Over the years I have met more than one Floridian snowbird that claims to have dual residency and claims to vote in two places. Of the few people I have met, most are New Yorkers. If they are in New York for election day they vote in Florida by absentee ballot and vote in person at their home. This is wrong and the law in Indiana is an effort to clean this despicable practice up. Yet these people actually brag about it.

Actually there IS a cure for this sort of thing that involves the courts and prison system. Jailing those caught doing this sort of thing would go quite a ways in cleaning things up.

I'm not out to get someone's grandmother that moved in with her kids and still drives out to the old precinct where she is originally  registered. That in itself is not the problem. However, if Granny takes it upon herself to register at her kid's residence and then drives to her old neighborhood and votes again then it's time to have Granny spend a little time in the cross bar hotel and lose her right to vote as a felon.

I was registered to vote immediately after it became legal for 18 year olds to vote, back in 1971. I was registered in Massachusetts. Curiosity overwhelms me and I wonder if I am still registered to vote there. If so, I wonder if I am still voting there. It would be interesting to find out.

Come to think of it, I wonder if I am still registered to vote in Colorado and Alaska. I also wonder if I have been listed as having voted in Colorado since 1978 when I left and in Alaska since late 1989. Have I continued to vote in Colorado and Alaska since I moved out?

Frankly I would not be surprised, especially in Massachusetts, a place I consider to be a communist country. 











To find out why the blog is pink just cut and paste this: http://piccoloshash.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-feminine-side-blog-stays-pink.html NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN THE WRITING OF TODAY'S ESSAY