Washington Governor Jay Inslee (D), just signed a Universal Voter Registration Law.
The most consequential measure is one that would require the state Department of Licensing to automatically register citizens obtaining a state driver’s license or identification card to vote.
Oregon, the first state to automatically register voters, added nearly a quarter-million new voters to its rolls in just the first year the program began operating back in 2015. California estimates it will add as many as 6.6 million new voters under its own plan, adopted a few months after Oregon.
“Democracy is served when more people participate,” Inslee said at the bill-signing ceremony at a Seattle-area high school.
Justice Served?
- One does not have to be a US citizen to obtain a drivers license.
- Any system that does not require proof of citizenship is unconstitutional.
- Justice is not served when illegal aliens can vote.
Three Questions
- If someone does not want to bother to register, is justice served when they vote?
- What mechanisms are in place to ensure that US citizens, and only US citizens, are automatically registered.
- Assuming there is a reasonable answer to question two, what’s the cost of this verification?
Addendum
I received several comments along these lines:
The Hill article on the bill signed by Gov. Inslee is misleading. The automatic voter registration will be for those who have enhanced driver’s licenses, which are issued only after citizenship has been proved.
I am actually quite leary of “The Hill“. I strive not to link to them for these kinds of reasons.
I worded my questions the way I did, on purpose, because much of the time The Hill is nothing but clickbait.
That said, all three of my questions are still valid.
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
In the olden days, if one didn’t pay poll tax, they couldn’t vote. In the present day, if one cannot afford to pay for the ID and an ID is required, they can’t vote. Any reasonable person will say that what we have now is a modern-day version of the same old poll tax. Since you are not a reasonable person, I don’t expect you to agree with that.
” Frankly, the practice amounts to a modern day poll tax. ” Frankly, that is false.
See the article. “My grandparents worked hard to save enough money to pay their poll tax of one dollar and seventy-five cents – the equivalent of $36.16 today. …. Voters must now effectively pay at least $20 to $50 dollars before they can obtain an ID, register to vote, and then present that ID to cast their ballot. Frankly, the practice amounts to a modern day poll tax. “
“Any means of identification that is used as a voter’s ID has to be issued free of cost. If not, it is a form of poll tax. The fact that the ID could be used for a whole host of other things is irrelevant. ” That is simply false.
In California you do have to produce a birth certificate, original and not a copy, in order to obtain a resident driver’s license. Otherwise you get a “non resident” license, which states lack of resident status clearly on the face of the license. That might seem to be at odds with this being a “sanctuary state,” but lots of inconsistencies seem to be entirely okay with Californians.
Any means of identification that is used as a voter’s ID has to be issued free of cost. If not, it is a form of poll tax. The fact that the ID could be used for a whole host of other things is irrelevant.
“Voter verification should be based on IDs that are issued free of cost. If one has to pay to get an ID, then it becomes a poll tax.” An ID card is not a poll tax. An ID card is required for a whole host of other things.
Voter verification should be based on IDs that are issued free of cost. If one has to pay to get an ID, then it becomes a poll tax.
link to huffingtonpost.com
“Why get upset about something that increases voter participation, and why bring up illegals when no evidence is being brought up that this is a problem.” If it isn’t a problem, why do democrats oppose voter verification.
All three questions are stupid. One, if someone is registered to vote, they still have the choice to not vote. Tens of millions of voters skip voting in literally every election.
The second question would not have been asked if one had googled “driver’s license registration vote verify.” Is that too hard? Apparently, it is to some!
Three, the cost of verification to ensure that the voting system works is obviously a tiny fraction of the amount spent on corporate welfare, or on “bringing democracy” to every country that the US invades.
As long as they are legal citizens.
Rampant voter fraud since Tammany days. Just a way to build prog rolls.
Americans (and others) often don’t realize that standards and procedures at American elections are some of the worst in the world. The same international bodies that monitor elections in Syria or Africa refuse to do so for the USA because the procedures are all so sup-par that there is nowhere to even start. It’s hard to convince yourself that this is accidental — why don’t they copy a little from other countries?
Millenials often don’t drive, so drivers licenses will not effectively target all of them.
True that the Washington Senate bill 6353 requires an enhanced drivers license but there is another automatic voter registration in the bill. The bill also directs public assistance agencies as well as the Departments of Agriculture, Veterans Affairs, and Military to do the same automatic registration. That is where I believe fraud is most likely. I am with Snow Dog on Inslee. He is a crook and we have had a a few of those here in Washington.
Increasing the uninformed vote will not help our republic. Dare I say that is precisely what has led us to this distressing place in our history- the uninformed vote?
Next up, since “democracy is best served” (and “serving democracy” is what life in dystopian America is all about, after all) if more people participate; we’ll have a presumed default vote cast by those registered who still couldn’t bother to go vote for one of the idiots on the ballot. For the incumbent, of course. That way, everyone votes. And the right guy always wins.
My post and questions are accurate. The latter is what’s most important. I did add an addendum to explain. Thanks
link to lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov
link to seattletimes.com
Mish, I believe the automatic registration applies only to enhanced drivers license, which requires proof of citizenship, and not to standard drivers license, which has no citizenship requirement. The Hill article was wrong. And your post is wrong as well.
I remember as clearly as yesterday when Reagan signed the “final” immigration reform bill in 1986, legalizing 4 million here illegally at the time in return for solemn promises all around that, going forward, both parties would henceforth and forevermore abide by the law. They lied. We now have 12 million more illegals, sanctuary cities, and the state of Washington blithely, and indignantly, passing laws to enfranchise them. We richly deserve the government we get.
My family won’t be bothering with $400+ a pop Green Cards anymore.