Ms. Clark was a guest at the Council of Neighborhood Association on May 20th, and expressed her concerns over the accuracy of the rolls and the fact that the State had not released the lists over a year after they should have been available.

Good for her.

..so it's better to just leave things as they are? Verification of legal votes is a cause we should all support. Why would anyone be against this...unless they feel ''thier'' political party gains illegal votes by keeping things the way they are. Large and increasing population has created the need for more protection against fraud. We are not talking about a neighborhood election of only a few voters where everyone knows everybody and strange voting resluts would be easy to spot. I fail to understand why steps to prevent voter fraud are interferred with. If anything...we should be doing ''much'' more than this. Several ''more'' things should also be done along with this process she halted...and they need to be done all over the country. She is acting like an all-too-dangerous rogue judge. She should not have this much power to easily stop a process than so many would encourage.

What about the case of a WW2 0vet who has been voteing for years and now they want him to prove he is a citizan. Anouther case concerns a 80 year old woman who is housebound and and has been voting for 50 year has to travel some distanace to prove she has the right to vote. It is about excludeing citizans who have the right to vote because they can not afford to get a birth certificate, identification or a passport

Asking voters to present proof of citizenship before voting should be required. Ms. Clark shows she as places little value on authenticating voters and she will not get my vote next election.

BW

29 were non-citizens on the voter registration rolls . Why would someone register to vote if they are not a citizen? Who or what organization would encourage them? I don't believe people do that on their own initiative. Ahh yes, it was Eric Holder great friend of the illegal voter. He's the guy responsible for sending thousands of weapons to Mexican terrorists with the plan to blame Americans for shipping weapons out of the country. 'Operation fast and furious' ended up murdering our border guards. We would know nothing about this if border guard friends of the murdered had not come forward and risk the 'whistle-blower' trail.

It was NEVER about any of the "stated" concerns. Everyone knows it was only about voter suppression. If your ideas aren't good enough, cheat. The gang that does this kind of thing should be ashamed but they have no shame. That crowd used to say America, love it or leave it! Well it's my America too so don't try to buy it and please don't try to steal it.

To vote in the United States or its territories, a person should be required to be a citizen and show identification to proof citizenship. Why should a citizen not want to show that they are a citizen. (are they hiding something) , they should be proud to be able to vote. We don't go to foreign countries and vote, why should persons that are not citizens vote here. This is way I feel, Some may agree with me and some may not.

It seems odd that many people pushing for voters showing id when voting are horrified when national id cards or micro-chips at birth for every person are proposed. Why bother with all these half measures shown to be full of errors when we have the technology to permanently id everyone? LOL

The United States has one of the most liberal voting policies in the world. Many steps and refinements have been taken over the years to try and ensure that those legally eligible to vote have the opportunity to do so. Of course this also opens the door to abuses such as dead people casting multiple votes, people otherwise ineligible to vote being bussed in to those States where no residency requirement exists, votes being cast aside during the counting process, votes getting lost or destroyed, felons in States where they are not eligible to vote casting absentee votes elsewhere and illegal immigrants casting votes.

With all of the attempts to ensure that those who are legally eligible to vote have the opportunity to do so, it is equally important to take whatever steps are available to purge the rolls of those found ineligible to vote. If anyone has performed actions that make them ineligible to vote (in some States convicted felons, Illegal Immigrants, non-residents in some States and other categories) then they absolutely and unequivocally should be denied the privilege of voting.

More than 40 states or territories, including colonies before the Declaration of Independence, allowed non-citizens who satisfied residential requirements to vote in all elections. This in part reflected the strong continuing immigration to the US. Some cities (Chicago), towns or villages (in Maryland) today allow non-citizen residents to vote in school or local elections.

A citizen who has never resided in the United States can vote if a parent is eligible to vote in certain states. In some of these states the citizen can vote in local, state and federal elections, in others in federal elections only.

U.S. citizens residing overseas who would otherwise have the right to vote are guaranteed the right to vote in Federal elections by the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) of 1986.

Adult citizens of the United States who are residents of one of the 50 states or sometimes the District of Columbia may not be restrained from voting for a variety of protected reasons, stated in the 15th, 19th, 24th and 26th Amendments.

Low income and homeless citizens face some obstacles in registering to vote. These obstacles are establishing residency, providing a mailing address, and showing proof of identification. A residency requirement varies from state to state, when it comes to voting registrations. States cannot require citizens to show residency of more than 30 days before Election Day. Some states such as: Idaho, Maine, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Wyoming allow voters to register on Election Day. North Dakota does not require voters to register. Some states will allow individuals to use PO Boxes; other states allow the provided address to be of a local shelter, advocacy organization, outreach center, or anywhere else that accepts mail on behalf of a person registering to vote.

States like Arizona and Nebraska allow homeless citizens to use county court houses or county clerks’ offices as mailing address.

States that do not require a mailing address: Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Montana, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Prisoner voting rights is a state issue, so the laws are different from state to state. Some states allow only individuals on probation and ex-felons to vote. Others allow individuals on parole, probation and ex-felons to vote. As of July 2007, fourteen states, eleven of them in the South, ban anyone with a felony conviction from voting for life, even after the person has served the sentence, while only two states, Maine and Vermont, allow incarcerated individuals to vote.

The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) (42 U.S.C. § 1973gg), also known as The Motor Voter Act, was signed into effect by United States President Bill Clinton on May 20, 1993, however, compliance did not become mandatory until 1995. The legislation required state governments to allow for registration when a qualifying voter applied for or renewed their driver's license or applied for social services.

The legislation was initially designed to reduce costs of voting registration by accumulating individual data when applying for a drivers license and or receiving social assistance. The "motor voter" nickname came from the idea that most of the NVRA data was accumulated from applicants renewing or obtaining driver's licenses. Individuals who applied for "agency based" needs such as food stamps, disability services and other social services were to be offered voter registration, as well. The intention of the legislation was to encourage greater access to voter registration for the citizens who needed further assistance registering to vote. Also, NVRA allowed for more accessible voter registration through mail-in and individual voter registration drives.

With all of the attempts to ensure that those who are legally eligible to vote have the opportunity to do so, it is equally important to take whatever steps are available to purge the rolls of those found ineligible to vote. If anyone has performed actions that make them ineligible to vote (in some States convicted felons, Illegal Immigrants, non-residents in some States and other categories) then they absolutely and unequivocally should be denied the privilege of voting.

The conservatives only seem to raise a danger flag (remember the color terrorist colors) when there's an election coming on. Maybe no one will notice it one more time, anyway with enough money they can buy anything. .. ... even our country, right?

I am Pro-ID when it comes voting! There is absolutely no valid argument to allowing someone to vote without proving who there are - anything less ruins the integrity of the system.

I still remember when IRAQ citizens voted for the first time in 2005, had to show id and get finger printed to ensure that their vote counted. Too many have died to ensure our votes count.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4533600.stm

Typical Republican dirty tricks. Republican support among the growing minority citizen population has big business and their Republican toadies concerned. Republicans know that their days are numbered as the people will not support the rich screwing over the middle class and the poor. Like so many other Republican shenanigans, voter suppression is couched in appeals to nativism and racial overtones that serve only to keep minorities from registeringt to vote and exercising their right to vote. It has always been thus. Republicans are only for business and the hell with the common man.

I smiled when I saw the comment by T Rex. A dinosaur?? Are you afraid to give your real name?

Failure to understand where taxes come from underlies the issue of why some think big business or even capitalism is evil, and destructive. Are there excesses? Yes, anywhere there is power, there are those who are greedy, be they politicians of either side or business people.

When I was in school, we were "influenced" to think capitalism was good and socialism was evil...communism, an extension of socialism, was our biggest foe. Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm were in required reading...

Ask a child where water comes from and they will say the tap. Probe a bit further, though...where does the water come from that flows into the house, and how does it get there?

Too many people have their hand out for something from the government and think of the government as the tap without considering where the money is generated from. :( Taxes come from enterprise. Taxes fund the government. Cut off the tax revenue source, you end up with....deficit spending.

This thread is about being sure that voters registered are valid. It is not a plan by "evil" Republicans to protect the sanctity and validity of our election process. Everyone should WANT that. In my life I have voted both parties, depending not on the party but on the stand and belief that the people are the most aligned with my values.

Timing? Depends on your point of view, doesn't it.

An argument is made that we must have positive evidence that an individual is eligible to cast a vote. No one that I am aware is in any way encouraging non citizens to vote and in fact there has been little historical evidence of voter fraud. If I understand the argument being put forth, we will have yet another example of government intervention into the private lives of the American citizen. Yet another file will opened. We will all have some sort of national identity card. What information could be on the new proposed ID card?

There's a scary thought, Torrey. I was alarmed at all the things now required to get a FL drivers' license renewed, and then found out that the state has authority to sell this very personal information, albeit to specific businesses, but does not follow up to be sure those companies are compliant with the law in how they use that information.

Again, Orwell's 1984?

We have not only lost our national sense of personal modesty, we are losing our ability to be "private citizens."

Have you gotten a Community Survey from the Census Bureau? VERY invasive! Glad I was told could refuse to answer some of the probing questions about my income. (see http://www.census.gov/acs/www/about_the_survey/questions_and_why_we_ask/)

Isn't this a tempest in a teapot, or as Billy Shakespeare said, "Much Ado about Nothing." When an individual registers to vote, the individual is asked, "Are you a United States citizen?" Yes or No. Should the individual fraudulently answer that question or any of the other questions on the form, they would then be committing a third degree felony I believe. A third degree felony earns you a stay in prison of up to five years and a five thousand dollar fine.

How many people have been charged, as allowed, under the existing law? Why is it necessary to add yet another law on the books?

Voting is a privilage, not a right. I stand with Gov. Rick Scott in wanting to assure that all those that vote are eligible for that privilage. When applying for a voter registration card one should be required to prove their citizenship. The voter registration card should then be a required document to cast your vote. Today, it is not a required document and serves no purpose when you vote in Florida.