Pa PASSES VOTER "PHOTO- ID" LAW

if it becomes a law, that's it. You have to do it. Like a driver's licence. I'm sure when they were introduced people said, "Why should I get a license? I'm a good driver."

But that's not the issue; it's about a government photo ID card that is being required to reduce or eliminate fraud where there are none.

September 22, 2004
Who Decides If People with Dementia Should Vote?

Are the four million Americans with Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia entitled to vote this November? How do we prevent fraudulent voting on behalf of people in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities who have lost the capacity to vote? This problem cuts across all party lines, income levels, and racial identities. Who decides if people with dementia have the capacity to vote? How is that assessment made?

These questions were addressed by a multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional group of 11 experts in law, ethics, government, neurology, geriatrics and psychiatry, co-led by U.Va. law professor Richard Bonnie; Dr. Jason H. Karlawish, assistant professor of medicine at University of Pennsylvania and director of Penn’s Alzheimer’s Disease Center’s Education and Information Core; and Dr. Paul Applebaum, professor and Chair of Psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts. Their 18-month study, published in the Sept. 15 issue of Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), reveals an alarming inconsistency in voting policy regarding citizens with dementia. “We found that judges, family caregivers, and long-term care staff do not have adequate guidance to determine whether individuals with dementia have the capacity to vote,” said Karlawish.

By 2050, an estimated 15 million Americans will have dementia. Since age is the chief risk factor for the disease and voter turnout is highest in the 65 to 74 age bracket, the needs defined in this study will impact the electoral process for years.

“The 2000 election demonstrated how a small number of votes in a single state—in this case Florida, home to one of the nation’s largest concentrations of elderly persons—can affect the outcome nationwide,” said Bonnie. “Local elections are frequently decided by margins no greater than the number of residents in area nursing homes.”

The researchers looked at existing voting laws and discovered them to be inadequate. Most states disqualify people who have been found incompetent to care for their personal needs or financial affairs without a specific finding that they lack the ability to vote. As a result, these laws may well violate the Constitution, as well as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Researchers recommend changing state laws to conform to modern constitutional principles, incorporating a test to assess competence to vote, simplifying ballots to eliminate voter confusion, educating the public regarding the appropriate assistance for voters with dementia, formulating policies for voting in long-term care settings, and further studies to develop more effective voting policies.

Even with a clear test for capacity to vote, there remains a risk that elderly persons’ choices will be impermissibly influenced by their caregivers. The limits of acceptable assistance are most difficult to define when absentee ballots are used, Bonnie said. “Nationwide, absentee voting rates are twice as high among voters 65 years and older than for younger age groups, and state laws are making it easier for people to vote as an “absentee” without giving any reason. Some experts predict that one fifth of the votes cast on November 2 will be by absentee ballot. But the potential for abuse is obvious, as it is never clear exactly who has completed the ballot. Sixty percent of all allegations of voter fraud in Chicago involve absentee ballots.”
http://www.law.virginia.edu/html/news/2004_fall/eldervote.htm

the very foundation of the government claims that it power to rule come from the people.

And do you realize how many elderly folks suffering from dementia or other forms of severe cognitive impairment, many in assisted living facilities or nursing homes, and many living at home with a caretaker-relative, receive absentee or advance ballots so they don't have to vote in person at the polls?

The Romney campaign in Poland: "Kiss my ass.....This is a holy site for the Polish people. Show some respect."

The irony on "respect."

You can't claim there is absolutely no voter fraud at the polls. There has always been some fraud in the voting system. As long as it's not widespread, it's not easy to detect

And that power of the people is reflected in the state legislatures they elect to represent them. And it's those state legislatures that are proposing and passing these laws--and their actions are supported by a majority of Americans judging by the results of opinion polls, including Democrats and Liberals who support such laws.

Just because it's law doesn't mean it's moral or justified.

Given that someone must request to vote absentee, I'm not sure how many dementia sufferers are taking the time to fill out absentee ballot requests. But then it doesn't really matter if thousands or even millions are, since that's not something that voter ID laws address.

But then Hitler party got into power by the legal processes in Germany and then begin to take the rights of citizenship away one group after another.

In the case of dementia sufferers, the numbers voting by absentee ballot appear substantial, given the high percentage of elderly people who regularly vote by absentee ballot