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Voter Registration?

Started by KevinG Oct 13, 2004 at 10:18 PM 12 replies 1.2k views

Original Post

Oct 13, 2004 at 10:18 PM

I've been wondering, now that talk of voting and voter registration is at an all time high, why bother? No, this isnt one of those "my vote doesn't matter" threads...I'm wondering WHY THE HELL I HAVE TO REGISTER TO VOTE IN THE FIRST PLACE! Why isnt it all automatic? You're a citizen of the U.S.? You've got I.D.? You can vote. Why not? Is there some huge, obvious problem with this approach that I'm not seeing? Not only would more people go out to vote, but it would stop all of those registration problems...There are so many people I know who couldnt vote in the last election due to problems with their registration (not to mention the whole black voter/Florida fiasco). Ideas?

Programmer One

Oct 13, 2004 at 10:23 PM

Simple: There is no National Identification System.

The registration is your ID.

The Frugal Gourmet

Oct 13, 2004 at 10:23 PM

Well, uh... you see... it -- like -- makes perfect sense and stuff because there's like this, uh... *scratches head* ... uh, you know, thing and stuff.... that.. uh.. needs to be done for like the.. um.. doohickey to work right. And that thing is absolutely essential for the identification and validation .. you know? And, if nobody .. ya know .. does that stuff right then ... well. how can we know that we are us?

I hope I make myself clear.

Liszt

Oct 13, 2004 at 10:24 PM

So they can summon you for jury duty and other crap

Tron3k

Oct 13, 2004 at 10:25 PM

Quote:
Original post by Programmer One
Simple: There is no National Identification System.

The registration is your ID.

Shouldn't a US passport work? I guess everyone doesn't have one, or something?

ArchWizard

Oct 13, 2004 at 10:26 PM

I don't. I let mine expire and haven't gotten around to getting a new one.

Liszt

Oct 13, 2004 at 10:27 PM

I suppose they could tie it to your Social Security Number, and make you show ID at the voting booth.

jfclavette

Oct 13, 2004 at 10:32 PM

You have to be registred locally SOMEWHERE so you can't vote in all states I guess. Unless all the voting booths are tied together by teh intarweb megahurtz

Agony

Oct 13, 2004 at 10:33 PM

I think it's because voter registration is both a local and a national thing. You register to vote in your area (county, state, etcetera), and they just have this registration combined with registration to vote for the president. Every time you move [a significant amount, like to a new state, maybe a new county, dunno], you have to reregister, because you can now vote for a different set of offices, based on where you live.

kdogg

Oct 13, 2004 at 11:19 PM

It's been said, but i'll second that it has to do with locality. Otherwise, there would be no battleground states. Or rather, pa would go kerry because millions of new yorkers would drive to philly to vote. and, of course, ny would go bush because too many new yorkers abandon their base.

Also, without local registrations it would be necessary for there to be a nationwide database of everyone who has or hasn't voted yet.

Programmer One

Oct 13, 2004 at 11:35 PM

If the US would have a National ID System, you wouldn't require anybody to register because everybody is counted and called for. The database behind the ID system would know what state you live in (so you could technically vote in Maine if you really live in California without screwing things up), your age, citizenship status, etc.

Not everybody has a SSN, or a passport. So that's the reason why they don't use those.

etothex

Oct 13, 2004 at 11:40 PM

Quote:
Original post by Liszt
So they can summon you for jury duty and other crap

In California, at least, they pull those now from driver's license lists, IIRC.

Passport wouldn't really work, because it costs like $40 to get one and it takes ~5-6 weeks, so you might as well register to vote.

superpig

Oct 14, 2004 at 3:07 AM

Even if they do need to keep things on a local basis, why force people to reregister every four years? Why not just register once when you arrive, and then register when you move?

Programmer One

Oct 14, 2004 at 3:09 AM

Quote:
Original post by superpig
Even if they do need to keep things on a local basis, why force people to reregister every four years? Why not just register once when you arrive, and then register when you move?

Because you could have a change of party...and some states won't allow you to vote in a primary of another party.

Not to mention it would make it a hell of a lot harder to cheat. [looksaround]

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