The editors at the Charlotte Observer have sunk to a new low. In today’s op-ed, they accused the Republican Party of trying to suppress the minority vote by requiring an ID at the polls. In order to make their case, they disingenuously used a story about two elderly black women. Here is an excerpt:
Dorothy Cooper is 96 years old, and she's voted in every election but one since she was eligible to cast a ballot. When her home state of Tennessee passed a voter identification bill this year, she wanted to make sure she could vote again in 2012, so she went to a voter service center with a rent receipt, birth certificate and voter registration card. But because Cooper's maiden name was on her birth certificate, she was told she needed a marriage certificate, too, according to the Chattanooga Times Free Press. She didn't have one. She was denied a voter ID.
Thelma Mitchell, 93 years old, cleaned the Tennessee state capitol for 30 years. She also wanted to ensure she'd be able to vote next year, but she was incorrectly told that her old state ID was inadequate, according to a Chattanooga TV report. When Mitchell went to get an ID at a state drivers license center, she was told she needed her birth certificate. She has never had one. She was turned away.
A reasonable person would say this is horrible and we shouldn’t allow this to happen. But anyone who knows the dishonesty of the editors at the Disturber would have done some fact checking on their own, and would have found the following omissions:
Thelma Mitchell told WSMV-TV that she went to a state drivers' license center last week after being told that her old state ID from her cleaning job would not meet new regulations for voter identification.
But a spokesman for the House Republican Caucus said Mitchell was given bad information. Brent Leatherwood said even an expired state ID will allow her to vote.
Asked about why Mitchell might have been confused or received incorrect information about the new voter ID law, Leatherwood said only that the provision that allows for the use of state employee IDs is "pretty straight-forward."
He said staff would be contacting Mitchell to get to the bottom of the miscommunication.
And as for Cooper:
After Cooper was denied a photo ID Monday, Kilpatrick contacted Hamilton County's Administrator of Elections Charlotte Mullis-Morgan, who recommended that Cooper vote with an absentee ballot rather than having to stand in line with her walker again at the state center.
Absentee ballots don't require photo ID, and the new state law was crafted to allow that exception. A U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding a similar Indiana statute cited the absentee ballot exception as one of the reasons the Indiana law didn't infringe on constitutional voting rights.
There is no doubt in my mind the Charlotte Observer used the Democratic Party’s propaganda machine, Think Progress as a source. I find that disturbing. The Disturber has long been running on fumes when it comes to integrity; now, they have none.
And to put the final nail in the coffin, the Disturber made this assertion:
This is what happens when you try to solve a problem that doesn't really exist. That problem would be voter fraud, which is the reason Republicans frequently cite when they introduce and champion restrictive voting laws. Problem is, no one has shown that such an epidemic is real, and the sprinkling of fraud cases that do exist make up a tiny fraction of the voters who will be disenfranchised by laws such as South Carolina's.
This is laughable! Anyone with access to the internet can easily refute this nonsense. As a matter of fact here are some examples:
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/153079-gop-says-5000-non-citizens-voting-in-colorado-a-wake-up-call-for-states
http://dailycaller.com/2011/11/24/12-charged-with-voter-fraud-in-georgia-election/
Here’s a story about an NAACP leader sentenced for voter fraud:
http://dailycaller.com/2011/07/29/mississippi-naacp-leader-sent-to-prison-for-10-counts-of-voter-fraud/
Here’s a story from North Carolina. You would think the editors at the Observer would know about this one.
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=8301269
And let’s not forget all of the ACORN scum who have been convicted of voter fraud. Hell, the state of Ohio officially banned them from doing business.
Its mind boggling that the editors at the Charlotte Observer believe they can make asinine statements like this, and get away with it.
Source: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/12/29/2882340/thwarting-those-who-try-to-block.html#storylink=cpy
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2011/12/26/395287/93-year-old-tennessee-woman-who-cleaned-state-capitol-for-30-years-denied-voter-id/
http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/4617f01f0a94472bb8e613bbc23102d2/TN--Voter-ID/
http://timesfreepress.com/news/2011/oct/05/marriage-certificate-required-bureaucrat-tells/
Dorothy Cooper is 96 years old, and she's voted in every election but one since she was eligible to cast a ballot. When her home state of Tennessee passed a voter identification bill this year, she wanted to make sure she could vote again in 2012, so she went to a voter service center with a rent receipt, birth certificate and voter registration card. But because Cooper's maiden name was on her birth certificate, she was told she needed a marriage certificate, too, according to the Chattanooga Times Free Press. She didn't have one. She was denied a voter ID.
Thelma Mitchell, 93 years old, cleaned the Tennessee state capitol for 30 years. She also wanted to ensure she'd be able to vote next year, but she was incorrectly told that her old state ID was inadequate, according to a Chattanooga TV report. When Mitchell went to get an ID at a state drivers license center, she was told she needed her birth certificate. She has never had one. She was turned away.
A reasonable person would say this is horrible and we shouldn’t allow this to happen. But anyone who knows the dishonesty of the editors at the Disturber would have done some fact checking on their own, and would have found the following omissions:
Thelma Mitchell told WSMV-TV that she went to a state drivers' license center last week after being told that her old state ID from her cleaning job would not meet new regulations for voter identification.
But a spokesman for the House Republican Caucus said Mitchell was given bad information. Brent Leatherwood said even an expired state ID will allow her to vote.
Asked about why Mitchell might have been confused or received incorrect information about the new voter ID law, Leatherwood said only that the provision that allows for the use of state employee IDs is "pretty straight-forward."
He said staff would be contacting Mitchell to get to the bottom of the miscommunication.
And as for Cooper:
After Cooper was denied a photo ID Monday, Kilpatrick contacted Hamilton County's Administrator of Elections Charlotte Mullis-Morgan, who recommended that Cooper vote with an absentee ballot rather than having to stand in line with her walker again at the state center.
Absentee ballots don't require photo ID, and the new state law was crafted to allow that exception. A U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding a similar Indiana statute cited the absentee ballot exception as one of the reasons the Indiana law didn't infringe on constitutional voting rights.
There is no doubt in my mind the Charlotte Observer used the Democratic Party’s propaganda machine, Think Progress as a source. I find that disturbing. The Disturber has long been running on fumes when it comes to integrity; now, they have none.
And to put the final nail in the coffin, the Disturber made this assertion:
This is what happens when you try to solve a problem that doesn't really exist. That problem would be voter fraud, which is the reason Republicans frequently cite when they introduce and champion restrictive voting laws. Problem is, no one has shown that such an epidemic is real, and the sprinkling of fraud cases that do exist make up a tiny fraction of the voters who will be disenfranchised by laws such as South Carolina's.
This is laughable! Anyone with access to the internet can easily refute this nonsense. As a matter of fact here are some examples:
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/153079-gop-says-5000-non-citizens-voting-in-colorado-a-wake-up-call-for-states
http://dailycaller.com/2011/11/24/12-charged-with-voter-fraud-in-georgia-election/
Here’s a story about an NAACP leader sentenced for voter fraud:
http://dailycaller.com/2011/07/29/mississippi-naacp-leader-sent-to-prison-for-10-counts-of-voter-fraud/
Here’s a story from North Carolina. You would think the editors at the Observer would know about this one.
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=8301269
And let’s not forget all of the ACORN scum who have been convicted of voter fraud. Hell, the state of Ohio officially banned them from doing business.
Its mind boggling that the editors at the Charlotte Observer believe they can make asinine statements like this, and get away with it.
Source: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/12/29/2882340/thwarting-those-who-try-to-block.html#storylink=cpy
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2011/12/26/395287/93-year-old-tennessee-woman-who-cleaned-state-capitol-for-30-years-denied-voter-id/
http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/4617f01f0a94472bb8e613bbc23102d2/TN--Voter-ID/
http://timesfreepress.com/news/2011/oct/05/marriage-certificate-required-bureaucrat-tells/
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