Thursday, July 13, 2006

Staton Threatens Constitutional Amendment on Voter ID

Like a cold shower, Cecil Staton's words ought to wake up every single Democrat in this state to what is really at stake in this election. In an Associated Press piece, Staton today expressed his "disappointment" that the Voter ID law would not be enforced in this primary, and then in a show of arrogance said that "those who think such voters (black, poor and elderly) cannot get photo identification have a bigoted attitude." Has he glanced in the mirror lately?

And then, Staton dropped the C-Bomb. He said that "if all else fails" he would support drafting a constitutional amendment on the issue. I shouldn't be surprised. At least he has laid his cards on the table. Sure, we've added discrimination based on sexual orientation to the constitution already, why not add discrimination based on race, age and disability. This happens to be my senator, and we have sparred a time or two. His position on this issue is embarrassing. This is the same guy who opined that if someone did not have a drivers license, they could just use their passport.

I have a great idea. Why not put every law into the constitution. That way, there could never be a constitutional challenge. That seems where we're headed. If this doesn't make maintaining our numbers in the legislature a priority, nothing will.

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1 comment:

Tina said...

My 81-year old uncle, a WWII vet who never misses voting, has an out-of-date driver's licence from Illinois. That's his only picture ID. He cannot drive and he does not walk well. On the other hand he has a master's in math from the University of Chicago, keeps up with the stock market, and knows what's going on in the news. He has been down here in GA several years and registered to vote shortly after he arrived. The new voter ID law would be quite inconvenient for him, so I helped him apply for an absentee ballot (which requires no ID at all!) He's one of the lucky ones....has two nieces to help him get the papers he needs, mail stuff for him etc. Not all our elderly have the help they need....and the Republicans KNOW it.