Sunday, May 4, 2008

Debate on SB 240 - Enabling Fraudulent Voter Registration

A part of the function of a blog directed at a politician is to provide an easy place to find a reference when the subject makes the news.

It seems that Senator Gordon was shoving a voter registration bill through the state Senate, SB08-240, that would allow on-line voter registration without proof of citizenship or even an ID. When challenged, the following exchange occurred according to Colorado Senate News:
"Photo ID is kind of a passport to participating in all kinds of ordinary life," the GOP's Sen. Shawn Mitchell, of Broomfield, told his colleagues. His appeal fell flat on [ Ken ] Gordon, however, who mocked Republican concerns about ineligible voters trying to register.

"Some people have a paranoid delusion that there are people here illegally in the United States in order to vote," Gordon said.

Later, Mitchell asked:
"If an unregistered felon voted in front of you, Sen. Gordon, how would you know?" an astonished [ Shawn ] Mitchell asked [ Ken ] Gordon...

“If you need a photo ID to get on a plane, enter a federal building, or buy alcohol, it is not an injustice to show one in order to register to vote,” said Mitchell. “This is a common-sense security measure. The majority’s opposition is wrong-headed.”

If Sen. [ Ken ] Gordon thinks that a notice that illegal voting is a felony provides a good security measure, then I invite him to post a notice that burglary is a felony and leave his door unlocked.”

It seems that very few of those involved in the debate have read the latest Supreme Court ruling upholding voter ID requirements. We will be writing on that a bit later.