Thursday, July 26, 2012

SOS: "Report is purposely inaccurate and is misleading"

Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann issued the following statement on voter ID:

“The Brennan Center ‘Report’ is purposely inaccurate and is misleading in its statements about Mississippi.

Mississippi is cited as having 746, 316 voting age citizens more than ten (10) miles from the nearest ID-issuing office. The ‘Report’ counts only Public Safety offices open more than two (2) days per week. Yet the ‘Report’ acknowledges ‘Mississippi Law requires county offices to provide ID.’ There are ninety-two (92) of these offices located in all eighty-two (82) counties which are open five (5) days a week from 8:00 am – 5:00 pm. By purposely excluding these offices, the ‘Report’ exaggerates the population number, then multiplies it by the ‘estimated’ number of people without transportation, to provide a totally fraudulent number of 48,329 voting citizens without a vehicle more than ten (10) miles from a state ID issuing office. This statement is false and the Brennan Center had knowledge to the contrary when the ‘Report’ was issued.

Further, it claims the cost of a birth certificate, if one were necessary, is $15, and there is a Mississippi ‘Catch-22’ which is ‘particularly perverse.’ It states Mississippi requires a photo-ID to obtain a birth certificate. What they do not say is each Circuit Clerk will be able to access the National Association for Public Health Statistics to verify available birth certificate data across the country at no cost to the applicant by simply obtaining basic information from the applicant.

Our State takes seriously its obligations to qualified voters. We are working to identify all citizens who may not have an ID, to assist with transportation to a local courthouse, and to provide a completely free voter ID. Sixty-six (66) individuals have contacted our Office thus far indicating a need for a voter ID.

The author claims to be a ‘long-time organizer, lobbyist, and an experienced trial attorney’ but, obviously, is not a statistician.”

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm glad to know about the county clerks access to this database. The free photo ID is useful beyond the voting booth. Homeless folk are in need of this article to be admitted to some shelters. I approve of this voter ID law.

Shadowfax said...

"Homeless folk (sic)" are required to present a photo ID to be admitted to a shelter? I seriously doubt that.

Anonymous said...

I absolutely believe Delbert Hoseman is an honorable man and will try to help citizens attain a photo ID.

I think he's missing an important piece of the puzzle...the hours the Public Safety offices are open. These are also the hours people work. Those who live pay check to pay check for hourly wage can't get off work to get an ID.

I don't think he understands how common it is for housekeepers, for example, to be dropped off at work or share transportation or for the elderly who no longer drive to depend on their family members and neighbors to take them places.

Also, there is a recent court case where those defending the Voter ID requirement were unable, by their own admission to the court, to prove that fraud in the form of bogus voters was a real problem at the voting booth.

Like everyone else, I've heard " the stories" but is there real evidence to justify inconveniencing hundreds of elderly and working poor voters or worse, taking away their ability to vote because they can't risk missing a day of work?

Anonymous said...

6:46 It is not possible to work legally in Mississippi without ID. You can't get married, get your WIC, your food stamps, drive a car, buy a gun, can't do any business with a bank, can't rent a room at a hotel, get on a plane, can't go to the hospital, etc. etc. without your ID. The Patriot Act has made it impossible to function in this country without ID. The only thing one can do now without ID is vote.

You need to cite the case you speak of. I suppose you will acknowledge the voter fraud problem when our dead Mississippians begin voting Republican.

Sweeks said...

6:46 Those of us that work have ID's.

Anonymous said...

7:44, you are forgetting about the surprisingly large number of employers and employees who operate on a cash-only basis. And many of those folks are perfectly legal Americans. The employers are avoiding paying taxes, insurance, etc. Many of those employees are quite elderly and they don't trust banks, so they WANT their pay in cash.

Mississippi is still a very rural state and the cash-only economy is still active in many areas.

Not using this as an argument against ID -- I am fine with ID. Just acknolwedging, as 6:46 did, that not everyone has one, and that those people might be the hardest to get with the outreach DH is attempting.

Anonymous said...

9:10 am is just making shit up now.

Anonymous said...

The Brennan Center serves as legal counsel to the “Living Wage Movement” – a nationwide initiative led by Wade Rathke and his radical cult ACORN. In the 2004 election, Brennan Center attorneys collaborated with ACORN and one of its front groups, Floridians for All, in successfully campaigning for a ballot initiative that would add a “living wage” amendment to the Florida constitution. Authorities in Florida have accused the “living wage” campaigners of a widespread pattern of fraudulent petitioning and other voting irregularities.

Former ACORN Miami-Dade field director Mac Stuart is one of several ACORN whistleblowers who have come forward to reveal illegal practices in the “Living Wage Movement.” According to Stuart, ACORN canvassers were instructed to gather signatures for Florida’s minimum wage initiative by any means necessary, legal or otherwise.
* * * *

David Tell dissected the Brennan Center’s research in a May 26, 2003 article in the Weekly Standard. Among other outrages, Tell revealed that Brennan Center political scientist Jonathan Krasno had bluntly admitted in his funding proposal to the Pew Charitable Trusts that the purpose of the proposed study was political, not scholarly, and that the project would be axed if it failed to yield the desired results. Tell charged that Brennan researchers “deliberately faked” their results, systematically fudging, massaging, altering and jiggering the data to meet their needs. The raw data showed that between 38.5 to 40 percent of the ads barred by McCain-Feingold would be “true” or “legitimate” issue ads. Nevertheless, researchers somehow managed to whittle this figure down to 7 percent in their final report.

Brennan’s defenders argue that the inaccuracies in the Center’s “Buying Time ‘98” study were pointed out and corrected before they could affect any court decisions on McCain-Feingold. However, the mass media failed to give wide exposure to Brennan’s scandalous conduct, and the glow of academic respectability Brennan lent to the campaign finance reform movement plainly contributed to the passage of BCRA.

* * * *
The Brennan Center is a think tank and legal activist group affiliated with New York University Law School and closely aligned with the Shadow Party of George Soros. It pursues a wide range of goals drawn from the radical agenda of Sixties activism as well as from the program of George Soros’ Open Society Institute. The Center generates “scholarly” studies, mounts media campaigns, files amicus briefs, gives pro bono support to activists and litigates test cases in pursuit of radical “change.”

The Center’s stated mission is to carry on the work of its namesake, former Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. (1906 - 1997). Brennan pioneered the modern practice of “legislating from the bench.” He promoted the idea that judges need not respect the “orginal intent” of the Constitution’s Framers.

The Brennan Center today champions the “living wage” movement, the “voting rights” movement and other mass-mobilization efforts whose origin lies in the so-called “Cloward-Piven Strategy” of the Sixties – a technique used to force political change by overloading the system with impossible demands, thus pushing society over the brink into chaos and collapse.

The Center’s efforts are presently concentrated in five major areas: (1) pressing state governments to pass minimum wage laws which greatly exceed the federal minimum wage; (2) giving convicted felons the right to vote; (3) placing the criminal justice system under the “democratic” control of community activists; (4) expanding the reach, power and complexity of current campaign finance regulations; (5) de-regulating the Legal Services Corporation.

Anonymous said...

Gender confused FEM-O-CRATS are always trying to pull something over on people....EVERYONE has a photo ID....EXAMPLE: IF YOUZ WANTS TO BY YO'S LIQUOR...YOUZ MUSTS HAVE A PHOTO ID TO GETZ ITS!!! ands ifs youz donts drinks...i wouldnt trust you anyway to vote!!! If you wants your Govt assistant you need ID to go down and sign up...The only reason "THEY" dont want you to have ID to vote is so "THEY" can commit VOTER FRAUD!!!!

Anonymous said...

I recall my late Grandma never worked a outside the home job, never drove a car, didn't have a birth certificate. She did have a SSN card which she would haul out when she wrote a check at Sears. She refused to show any proof of age as not lady like. It is possible to live in the US W/O any real ID.

Anonymous said...

So a Soc Security card is not "read ID"?

Anonymous said...

Shadowfax 5:45 "Homeless folk (sic)" are required to present a photo ID to be admitted to a shelter? I seriously doubt that."

Homeless ppl are required to have a ID when they are receiving SSI and do business with the Social Security Administration. SSA won't give do very much without a valid ID. No one can say they can't get or afford a ID card.

Anonymous said...

6:46: If they are working in Mississippi --for anyone, anywhere, paid by any means-- they had to provide I9 documentation and submit to E-Verify. Both require two forms of identification.

If a few thousand people somehow work, but fall outside these rules, draft up a description of their circumstances and I guarantee the SOS will work to accommodate them.

But by its very nature, participating in elections requires some basic effort. Polling places aren't open at night, for example. So if you sleep during the day, you might need an absentee ballot, which takes some extra work. The solution to problems like this is not to toss out basic, common sense rules, it's to identify obstacles and propose solutions.

Anonymous said...

So voter ID is racist and unconstitutional because in some cases it may require someone to buy a birth certificate which, if that person can't locate their original, costs a whopping $15.

Shadowfax said...

Anonymous said...
Shadowfax 5:45 "Homeless folk (sic)" are required to present a photo ID to be admitted to a shelter? I seriously doubt that."

Homeless ppl are required to have a ID when they are receiving SSI and do business with the Social Security Administration. SSA won't give do very much without a valid ID. No one can say they can't get or afford a ID card.

Shadow responds: Although I fully support the notion that anybody can get a photo ID, Your post doesn't answer the question. Someone, perhaps YOU, said a homeless person has to have a photo ID to be served by a shelter. That's bullshit. A homeless person can appear at the door of a shelter buck ass nekkid with not a personal item in his possession and be welcomed into the fold, fed, clothed, allowed to nap and turned loose on the skreet when he wakes up.

Anonymous said...

Charlie, please don't muddy the water. We're all focused on Chick Ball+DonnerKay and her need for attention.

Anonymous said...

7:44am et al Can you be so naive that you don't know many are paying their " help" in cash?

I have never been asked for my driver's license when applying for a job nor asked for the DL of someone I hired( unless driving was part of their job responsibilties). Addresses and SS numbers are more common.

Voting precints are open more hours than a normal work day to accomodate those who work shifts.

I'm , however, more concerned about the elderly would can no longer drive, tossed their expired licenses( which probably may not be good enough anyway...mustn't it be a current, valid photo ID?) and will have to be dependent on others to jump through the hoops to get a voter ID.

I would have rathered these efforts had a longer time frame and am no so naive as to imagine the timing is coincidental.

But, I think the GOP hasn't shared with the Tea Party how strong Romney polls in the 65 and older group.

The assumption that those who don't have a photo ID are on welfare or are illegal voters might prove to be a poor one.



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