An about-face by an opponent of voter ID laws
There is a constant refrain from the opponents of voter ID laws: that it is an attempt by white Republicans to suppress the votes of black Democrats. I’ve never understood why these opponents are allowed to get away with making what strikes me as a bigoted statement on its face: that African Americans are somehow less capable or motivated when it comes to obtaining a state-issued photo ID. But they do get away with it.
That’s why I thought it noteworthy that someone who admits to making such an argument in the past has turned the argument on its head and explained why election fraud is the real suppression measure — and testified that such fraud does happen.
Here’s Artur Davis, a former Democratic congressman from Alabama, writing in the Montgomery Advertiser:
The truth is that the most aggressive contemporary voter suppression in the African American community, at least in Alabama, is the wholesale manufacture of ballots, at the polls and absentee, in parts of the Black Belt.
Voting the names of the dead, and the nonexistent, and the too-mentally-impaired to function, cancels out the votes of citizens who are exercising their rights — that’s suppression by any light. If you doubt it exists, I don’t; I’ve heard the peddlers of these ballots brag about it, I’ve been asked to provide the funds for it, and I am confident it has changed at least a few close local election results.
The fact is that lawsuits opposing voter ID lawsuits have, in Georgia’s case and every other case with which I’m familiar, never managed to identify even a single person who’s been unable to cast a ballot because of ID laws. Yet, the issue doesn’t seem to go away. Even though Georgia’s law has been upheld by the state Supreme Court and the federal courts as constitutional, the law is still dragged out periodically by partisans of grievance politics as evidence of bad faith by Georgia’s ruling Republicans.
Opponents also like to claim that voter fraud is either non-existent — which is plainly false, given that there have been successful prosecutions for the offense — or so rare a problem that it’s not worth the potential suppression of a future voter. But, as Davis points out, it’s a serious problem if it changes the will of rightful voters in even one election.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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127 comments Add your comment
JDW
October 24th, 2011
10:14 am
@Tiberus…”Now, as to the hacking of electronic voting machines. Somebody has been watching conspiracy videos again. Can it be done? Absolutely! If you leave the machines unattended and unlocked (almost impossible) and if you have at least 2 other knowledgeable conspirators and a lazy voter registrar. Does a paper audit keep a potential hack from being discovered? Absolutely NOT!”
First off an electronic voting machine is nothing more than a point of sale transaction device just like you see at any retail establishment. It has input ports, network connections, software upgrades, and firmware upgrades that all offer easy access for hackers. Plus the vendors that maintain the software on the machines, mostly developed in India are an incredibly soft target. All you need to do is embed one worm in the next code release. Additionally the vote count itself is managed by data aggregation software that is run externally to the machine. These machines are stored in warehouses when not in use that are easily accessible. There are and untold number of weak points in the chain.
If you look a such networks on a widespread basis the best comparison point is such systems in Europe where most taxes are collected via VAT tax based on those point of sale numbers. The ONLY way they have been partially secured is by the use of a fiscal printer that records each transaction as it occurs providing a clear easily verified audit trail at the transaction level. Voting machines have no such safeguards. A hack should it occur will be untraceable.
Now consider the most “secure” network in the world…The Pentagon
“General Keith Alexander cautioned that Pentagon systems are “probed by unauthorized users approximately 250,000 times an hour, over six million times a day.” The remarks by Alexander, who is also at the helm of the main US spy organizations, the National Security Agency….We at the Department of Defense have more than seven million machines to protect linked-in 15,000 networks,” he noted.”
The state run networks that process the voting data are laughably insecure and have no such security.
Tiberus you are way out of your depth here and completely ignorant as to the real world of network and data security…all it will take is one guy with one worm.
BTW…it was done last month
http://www.salon.com/2011/09/27/votinghack/
Rick in Grayson
October 24th, 2011
10:14 am
MPercy October 24th, 2011 8:57 am
This is a great point…”The 2nd concern is absentee voting irregularities. IIRC, the absentee ballot includes an affidavit. Election boards should invest some scrutiny on these and pursue some felony perjury charges when warranted.”
How many times are perjury charges actually persued? Almost NEVER! The baseball picture lying to CONGRESS is the only one that has made the newspapers and it was Congress. They can’t even convict him of perjury with witness testimony.
Rick in Grayson
October 24th, 2011
10:15 am
The baseball “picture” ….meant pitcher.
MarkV
October 24th, 2011
10:17 am
“You show an id to buy alcohol, board a plane, verify a credit purchase, rent a car, but not to vote? Kind of ridiculous this is even a topic for discussion.”
Ridiculous indeed, this argument. You do not show id to buy alcohol, unless you look young. And we are talking here about mostly poor people in rural areas. Board a plane? Rent a car? Make a credit purchase?
Tiberius - Your lightning rod of hate!
October 24th, 2011
10:24 am
“The issue is not that people are unable to cast a ballot because of ID laws, but that it discourages people, black and white, from voting.”
Except that it doesn’t. Except in the whiny community.
redneckbluedog
October 24th, 2011
10:25 am
Ask them up there in Tennessee about the poor 91 year old woman who won’t be able to vote because she can’t stand up to have her picture taken for the picture ID…..ANOTHER GENIUS IDEA FROM THE CONSERVATIVE MIND..!!! Ah…she’ll probably vote Democratic anyway..to keep her SOCIALIST entitlement benefits…..Let’s face it, we’ll all be better off when she kicks the bucket…save us some taxpayer money so we can investigate important things like Solyndra…..
Obozonomics
October 24th, 2011
10:28 am
Republican Logic;
You must really have some good hydro in your house, so please put the bong down and wait at least a week before you even try to think straight… Where did you make those numbers up from? I guess the 450,000 people that LOST jobs last month would not agree that Obozo is a success… But then again you lefties love to repeat “misinformation”, i.e. lies, but repeating it does not make it true…
MarkV
October 24th, 2011
10:31 am
jdawg @7:44 am: “Please site the exact reference in the Constitution guaranteeing ANYONE the right to vote.”
jdawg: Please site the exact reference in the Constitution requiring picture ID for voting.
#occupy my desk...
October 24th, 2011
10:32 am
MarkV – so you are saying yet again that responsible conduct such as having proper ID only apply to those some people. I think I can speak for a lot of conservatives when I say that we are pretty sick of special treatment ongoing. Listen, I don’t know what “undue hardships” would prevent someone from posessing a social security card, birth certificate or proof of residence – I would take any one of the 3 to be honest. It is not like major elections sneak up on people, they can certainly, in the course of a year or 4, get the $8 state ID if they fit the requirements to vote.
I grew up in Chicago; I have seen how the machine works. You all claim that such a law would violate the fairness of an election. What about being fair to us? These malfeasances infringe on our rights. Enough special treatment. You have cheaters and dishonesty hijacking the democratic process.
td
October 24th, 2011
10:34 am
It really does not matter in the south next year because non of the Democratic votes will be counted. Only Republican votes in Georgia and Alabama for President will be counted and the Democratic votes will be thrown out. The Obama administration knows this and will not even come to the state to campaign. If you are a Democrat then I do not know why you even bother in showing up because you vote for Obama is not going to be counted.
Tiberius - Your lightning rod of hate!
October 24th, 2011
10:36 am
“First off an electronic voting machine is nothing more than a point of sale transaction device just like you see at any retail establishment.”
Actually, it’s not.
“It has input ports, network connections, software upgrades, and firmware upgrades that all offer easy access for hackers.”
Many of which are disabled, thus rendering many of your access points useless.
“Plus the vendors that maintain the software on the machines, mostly developed in India are an incredibly soft target.”
No, they’re not. You need to be able to change the results of LOCAL elections, which can only be done at the LOCAL level.
“All you need to do is embed one worm in the next code release.”
Nope. You’re thinking computer, rather than voting machine.
“Additionally the vote count itself is managed by data aggregation software that is run externally to the machine.”
First accurate point you’ve made all day.
“These machines are stored in warehouses when not in use that are easily accessible.”
No, they are not.
“There are and untold number of weak points in the chain.”
Actually, there are very few.
And your link was laughable, JDW. You obviously know nothing about voting machines and their security. Once again, a lab environment produced a hack that could only occur if there were no checks and balances from the date the machines are cleared and setup for an election, and there are too many in the real world that would catch these.
Road Scholar
October 24th, 2011
10:38 am
“You show an id to buy alcohol, board a plane, verify a credit purchase, rent a car, but not to vote? Kind of ridiculous this is even a topic for discussion.”
I do not have a problem showing an ID for the above, if getting an ID is readily available through “legal” means. I do have a problem with not having to take a test to have children! (No not a fertility test!) There are so many absent, abusive,unsupportive.. people out there that scare me knowing their children have everything stacked against them!
But I guess they can pick themselves up by their bootstraps!…or baby shoes!
MarkV
October 24th, 2011
10:48 am
#occupy my desk… @10:32 am: “I don’t know what “undue hardships” would prevent someone from posessing a social security card, birth certificate or proof of residence.
You have not mentioned photo ID, have you? So what is your problem with using proofs of residence other than photo ID? The fact is that if someone is intent on voting fraudulently, he/she can obtain a fake photo ID fairly easily. On the other hand, for old, poor, honest people in rural areas it may be a significant hardship to get the photo ID, enough sometimes to discourage from voting.
JDW
October 24th, 2011
10:49 am
@Tiberus…frankly you are so far behind the curve on reality as it relates to data and network security its not worth the time to educate you.
To top it off you obviously did not even READ the link…fyi the guys you say are laughable…
“Argonne National Laboratory, one of the U.S. Department of Energy’s oldest and largest national laboratories for science and engineering research, employs roughly 3,200 employees, including about 1,000 scientists and engineers, three-quarters of whom hold doctoral degrees. Argonne’s annual operating budget of around $695 million supports upwards of 200 research projects, which are broadly described below. Since 1990, Argonne has worked with more than 600 companies and numerous federal agencies and other organizations.”
Right to Vote
October 24th, 2011
10:54 am
I support the voter ID requirements. I think they are common sense. However, I don’t support idiotic statements…. So to JDawg’s question about the right to vote:
U.S. Constitution Amendment 15 refers to the “right to vote” and says it shall not be abridged because of race, color, or servitude.
U.S. Constitution Amendment 19 refers to the “right to vote” and says it shall not be abridged because of sex.
U.S. Constitution Amendment 24 refers to the “right to vote” and says it shall not be abridged for failure to pay a poll tax.
U.S. Constitution Amendment 26 refers to the “right to vote” and says it shall not be abridged or denied for those over the age of 18.
Any more questions about the right to vote in the Constitution? Go find you some more idiotic statements to make.
Bart Abel
October 24th, 2011
10:55 am
RE: “I’ve heard the peddlers of these ballots brag about it, I’ve been asked to provide the funds for it, and I am confident it has changed at least a few close local election results.”
____________________________________________________
Artur Davis was a a lawyer (graduate of Harvard Law) and U.S. Congressman. Yet, he was asked to fund fraudulent ballots? He heard peddlers bragging about it?
Did Mr. Davis contact the FBI? Did he offer to wear a wire so he can catch those who were making the false ballots? Did he even notify the local elections office or Common Cause or, in any way, seek to have these people or such elections investigated?
I’m sorry, but this assertion doesn’t pass the smell test. When Kyle finds evidence of significant ballot fraud, other than the odd ramblings of a man who lost the African-American vote in his bid for Governor (must have been because of “ballot fraud”), then I hope Kyle will let us know.
Republican Logic
October 24th, 2011
10:56 am
@Obozonomics…”I guess the 450,000 people that LOST jobs last month would not agree that Obozo is a success…”
“The economy added a better-than-expected 103,000 jobs in September, the government said in its monthly report–not enough to budge the unemployment rate, but further evidence the danger of slipping back into recession is likely not imminent.”
“Private employers added 137,000 jobs–up 32,000 from August. Thanks to layoffs and cutbacks, the public sector lost 34,000 jobs.”
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm
Republican Logic says…Job Gain of 103,000 is actually a job LOSS of 450,000 in Republican Universe because here we make the rules!
DixieDemons
October 24th, 2011
11:00 am
Dems need to start filing complaints through the Office of Civil Rights and stop filing lawsuits in civil court. Atfer the Office of Civil Rights investigates they will file the lawsuit. Kind of like what has happened with the banking system and bank failures in our state. FDIC gets involved and the banks get shut down and the FDIC sues the culprits for malfeasance and gross negligence because of their INTENT.
Southern Comfort
October 24th, 2011
11:02 am
Republican Logic
It is completely feasable that 450,000 lost jobs. If that many lost jobs, then there were 553,000 that were hired based on the numbers from BLS. You’d still come out with the same number in the end.
Bart Abel
October 24th, 2011
11:02 am
By the way, nobody claims there is no ballot fraud. There is. But it happens primarily with absentee ballots. Sadly, states haven’t seen fit to do anything about fraud through absentee ballots. More evidence that stated concerns about fraud aren’t real.
As far as Kyle not having seen evidence of anybody not being able to vote because of voter ID laws, here’s one for you…
http://www.timesnews.net/article/9037359/91-year-old-tennessee-woman-can39t-get-voter-id-because-of-long-line
Here’s another…http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2011/10/05/336392/96-year-old-tennessee-woman-denied-voter-id-because-she-didnt-have-her-marriage-license/
larry.333
October 24th, 2011
11:07 am
Voter’s Identification is essential to the Voting Process!!!
ILLEGAL ALIENS HAVE VOTED IN PAST ELECTIONS!!
Tiberius - Your lightning rod of hate!
October 24th, 2011
11:08 am
JDW, I did read the link, as my post referenced. They produced a hack in a lab. Big frikkin’ deal. Doesn’t matter how smart they are in electronics if they can’t get to the machines, which they can’t.
Republican Logic
October 24th, 2011
11:09 am
@Southern Comfort
“It is completely feasable that 450,000 lost jobs. If that many lost jobs, then there were 553,000 that were hired based on the numbers from BLS. You’d still come out with the same number in the end.”
Republican Logic says that when losing a debate regarding the number of net jobs added by a recovering economy try to change the subject to negative integer in the equation while ignoring the larger positive integer. Its our world we make the rules!
JDW
October 24th, 2011
11:13 am
@Tiberus…”JDW, I did read the link, as my post referenced. They produced a hack in a lab. Big frikkin’ deal. Doesn’t matter how smart they are in electronics if they can’t get to the machines, which they can’t.”
Hummm, you must have missed this part…
““The more realistic way to insert these alien electronics is to do it while the voting machines are waiting in the polling place a week or two prior to the election,” Johnston said. “Often the polling places are in elementary schools or a church basement or some place that doesn’t really have a great deal of security. Or the voting machines can be tampered while they’re in transit to the polling place. Or while they’re in storage in the warehouse between elections,” says Johnston.”
Tiberius - Your lightning rod of hate!
October 24th, 2011
11:24 am
“The more realistic way to insert these alien electronics is to do it while the voting machines are waiting in the polling place a week or two prior to the election,” Johnston said.”
Spoken by someone who doesn’t know a thing about election setup. Machines do not sit for a week in polling places. They are delivered and locked up the evening before.
“Often the polling places are in elementary schools or a church basement or some place that doesn’t really have a great deal of security.”
See above.
“Or the voting machines can be tampered while they’re in transit to the polling place.”
Not a chance. No time, no access (unless you think it is poll workers who can be corrupted – not impossible – but not likely, either).
“Or while they’re in storage in the warehouse between elections,” says Johnston.”
Locked, locked, locked. And completely and totally wiped out before each election.
Nice try, JDW, but the moonbats keep setting them up, and reality keeps knocking them down. BTW, how many election processes have you been part of? How many voting machines have you actually had any experience with?
JDW
October 24th, 2011
11:27 am
@Tiberus…four election processes in three states. Six voting machine models and hundreds of thousands of point of sale devices…and you?
The Snark
October 24th, 2011
11:34 am
Kyle, is this what you call proof? A politician reporting second-hand hearsay with no facts, no details, no names, no dates, and no corroboration? No offense, buddy, but you’re straining to see what you want to see.
The fact remains: Republican-leaning states have enacted Voter-IDs laws that disproportionately affect Democratic-leaning voters with no evidence that anyone anywhere has voted under a false name.
Dusty
October 24th, 2011
11:39 am
Well, aint it a shame! This world is not perfect!!
There IS voter fraud. There IS some difficulty for certain people to get ID cards (the elderly and the poor).
The best possible attempt at getting complete legal votes seems to be having an ID card. But it still won’t be perfect.
Maybe we could have a system the courts use. Every voter would hold up their hand and say they promise to tell the truth and nothing but the truth i.e. they are legal American citizens with the right to vote.
Might slow the process a bit but less expensive and probably just as effective as any other plan. Security could check out an occasional random voter for verification.
Truth and honor. We just don’t believe that it works any more. Sad! (And stop calling Kyle rude names. It only makes some of you sound like ill mannered dummies.)
Tiberius - Your lightning rod of hate!
October 24th, 2011
11:39 am
JDW, two here. Good for you. You should know better, however, given your experience with electronic voting machines.
And again, the POS argument is a “POS” argument. They are nothing alike, and you should know that if you actually had set them up.
Jefferson
October 24th, 2011
11:44 am
The GOP wins in GA, but accomplishes little. Fraud or not.
getalife
October 24th, 2011
11:45 am
Yes, lets make it easier for the 1 % puppets to get elected.
Jobs Kyle.
Focus on recovering the 15 million jobs w lost.
Southern Comfort
October 24th, 2011
11:48 am
Dusty
I think biometrics would be much better than any ID. ID’s can be easily counterfeited and manipulated. It’s much harder to counterfeit a fingerprint. All it takes is either a thumbprint or index finger print. You could do away with the paper voter lists and link all polling places to a central server and use a fingerprint capture to verify the voter’s ID.
JDW
October 24th, 2011
11:57 am
@Tiberius…”And again, the POS argument is a “POS” argument. They are nothing alike, and you should know that if you actually had set them up.”
Actually they are EXACTLY alike right down to the circuit boards, form factor, peripherals, the touch screen membrane, display and the card used to access the machine. My experience with the machines is from a business development perspective i.e. analyzing the technology, opportunities, markets and risks relative to entering the market.
campbell635
October 24th, 2011
12:02 pm
You have just proven the oppositions case! In-person voting is NOT the problem. Absentee voting is where the problem exists. Let me add that I have no problem with showing ID. I think both sides of this argument brings out the looneys!
Dusty
October 24th, 2011
12:08 pm
SoCo,
I wonder why biometrics have not been studied for safer voting results. Maybe it has. How would that work with absentee voters?
Tiberius - Your lightning rod of hate!
October 24th, 2011
12:10 pm
“Actually they are EXACTLY alike right down to the circuit boards, form factor, peripherals, the touch screen membrane, display and the card used to access the machine.”
Nope. You need to do a LOT more homework on this one, JDW. The hardware is the same, but many of the access points have been disabled via software.
Thogwummpy
October 24th, 2011
12:13 pm
In the referendum on Sandy Springs city-hood a number of years back, when I went to vote, a lady that I knew personally for years was a poll worker…she mentioned to me that earlier in the morning, a Latino man that could barely speak English had my name on a slip of paper, attempting to vote under MY name. Of course, they denied him a ballot, and he turned and ran out. When I heard this, I knew that NEVER again would I tolerate the “there’s no fraud” nonsense that we’ve heard for years from pundits such as the AJC’s former Cynthia Tucker. We need voter ID!
As an interesting corolary story, during the 2008 summer…two volunteers from ACORN rang my doorbell in an attempt to register me. Playing along, I said “Great! This way I can vote for John McCain.” In a huff, they said (still unaware that I was already a registered voter) “Very funny sir!”, turned on their heels and walked away. I shouted, “Hey, why can’t I register?” They said nothing and kept walking. In other words, ACORN only wanted to register DEMOCRAT voters—and thusly as a Democratic operative, they should definitely be forever stripped of any public funding.
Southern Comfort
October 24th, 2011
12:14 pm
Dusty
You can do a print in the same manner that they do the inkless kits for kids. I don’t know exactly how those kits work though. You could have the card printed and notarized before sending it back in. I think that would probably be a small inconvience, but overall, I think it would make it much harder to commit fraud. I would love to see biometrics integrated into the voting process, but that’s just my opinion.
Dusty
October 24th, 2011
12:24 pm
SoCo,
Biometrics sound good to me. I am not familiar with “children’s kits” for fingerprints. Maybe that would not be any more complicated than filling out an absentee ballot.
You are the expert on security. Someone should listen to the experts.
JDW
October 24th, 2011
12:29 pm
@Tiberus…”The hardware is the same, but many of the access points have been disabled via software.”
Nothing a screwdriver doesn’t fix in short order.
yuzeyurbrane
October 24th, 2011
12:30 pm
Kyle, you are too smart to believe your own rationalizations, although perhaps you are just too young to remember the creativity of prior generations in disenfranchsing groups they don’t want to vote. The photo ID law is not only aimed against blacks but also against other groups which are less likely to have drivers licenses like seniors, Hispanics, and inner city residents. Why are you opposed to maximizing the vote and letting the chips fall where they may?
Tiberius - Your lightning rod of hate!
October 24th, 2011
12:31 pm
“Nothing a screwdriver doesn’t fix in short order.”
Again, just try it if you can get access. But you can’t.
Southern Comfort
October 24th, 2011
12:33 pm
Dusty
There are kits available where you can have your child’s prints and DNA registered in case they come up missing. The pads don’t use ink, so they are not messy to handle. Here’s one company’s website…
http://www.inklessprints.com/
It’s not hard to scan prints into a computer to verify a match. The only problem with a system like that is there are people who have poor fingerprint quality. Older people and people who do manual labor with their hands, like bricklayers, tend to have poor print quality due to the use of their hands. Unless the print is completely worn down, you can still usually obtain a few point in order to match them. Computer programs can usually take poor prints and still make a good match.
I wouldn’t call me an expert on security. I’m still reading and researching to expand my knowledge on a daily basis. Thanks for the compliment though.
Carol
October 24th, 2011
12:35 pm
Kyle, you could have done a much better job than giving the example of ONE Alabama person who did an about face. I have ONE example of what could happen if you want it. My grandmother wil be 90 in December. Her birth certificate was lost in AL in a fire to the courthouse years ago. She hasn’t driven in nearly 12 years. How is she supposed to prove who she is in order to get a photo id? And in some states you can’t even used an ID from a state university or college. Honestly, how many people have been convicted of voter fraud through the use of a fake ID?
Carol
October 24th, 2011
12:40 pm
Another thing I can’t understand is this. If there are certain documents that I use to prove who I am to get the “government” ID, why can’t these SAME documents be used to prove who I am when I vote. What makes these documents so authentic when I get an ID that invalidates them on election day? Someone please explain how their magic powers appear and disappear.
The Fierce Urgency of NOW
October 24th, 2011
12:44 pm
Voter fraud, at least at the high level of incidence alleged by proponents of voter ID laws, is a MYTH. Another study conducted by the Brennan Center found the incidence of voter fraud at rates such as 0.0003 percent in Missouri and 0.000009 percent in New York. Voter fraud rates across the country were FAR LOWER than the lawmakers pushing voter ID laws have been implying. Michael Waldman, executive director of the Brennan Center, said: “Voter impersonation is an ILLUSION…IT ALMOST NEVER HAPPENS, and when it does, it is in numbers FAR TO SMALL to effect the outcome of even a close election.”
Obozonomics
October 24th, 2011
12:45 pm
Republican Logic;,
I guess you did NOT read the whole article you posted the link to;
“The number of unemployed persons, at 14.0 million, was essentially unchanged in
September, and the unemployment rate was 9.1 percent. Since April, the rate has held
in a narrow range from 9.0 to 9.2 percent.
That’s OK, 14 million unemployed is a success the dimacrats, right? So where are the jobs you keep talking about?
The Fierce Urgency of NOW
October 24th, 2011
12:49 pm
The Republican lawmakers responsible for these initiatives ARE NOT CONCERNED with the problem of rampant voter fraud, because the problem simply does not exist. Rather, they ARE CONCERNED WITH preserving their party’s power. Meanwhile, and they are THREATENING to DISENFRANCHISE millions of people to do so.
The Fierce Urgency of NOW
October 24th, 2011
12:52 pm
The 46th anniversary of President Lyndon Johnson’s signing of the Voting Rights Act is just over a week away. I fear that the upcoming 2012 Election will bear with it countless stories of people having difficulty registering to vote and casting their ballots. Are we going to continue to stand for these blatant affronts on our voting rights? WE CAN’T. WE OWE IT TO OURSELVES AND TO DEMOCRACY TO FIGHT BACK.
mum
October 24th, 2011
1:02 pm
Here’s the story about the lady in Tennessee. You can’t say she didn’t try or was lazy, but it seems like the bureaucracy is set-up to frustrate people so they go away:
“Dorothy Cooper is 96 but she can remember only one election when she’s been eligible to vote but hasn’t. The retired domestic worker was born in a small North Georgia town before women had the right to vote. She began casting ballots in her 20s after moving to Chattanooga for work. She missed voting for John F. Kennedy in 1960 because a move to Nashville prevented her from registering in time.
So when she learned last month at a community meeting that under a new state law she’d need a photo ID to vote next year, she talked with a volunteer about how to get to a state Driver Service Center to get her free ID. But when she got there Monday with an envelope full of documents, a clerk denied her request.
That morning, Cooper slipped a rent receipt, a copy of her lease, her voter registration card and her birth certificate into a Manila envelope. Typewritten on the birth certificate was her maiden name, Dorothy Alexander.
“But I didn’t have my marriage certificate,” Cooper said Tuesday afternoon, and that was the reason the clerk said she was denied a free voter ID at the Cherokee Boulevard Driver Service Center.
Cooper visited the state driver service center with Charline Kilpatrick, who has been working with residents to get free photo IDs. After the clerk denied Cooper’s request, Kilpatrick called a state worker, explained what happened and asked if Cooper needed to return with a copy of the marriage certificate.
“The lady laughed,” Kilpatrick said. “She said she’s never heard of all that.”
Tennessee Department of Safety spokeswoman Dalya Qualls said in a Tuesday email that Cooper’s situation, though unique, could have been handled differently.
“It is department policy that in order to get a photo ID, a citizen must provide documentation that links their name to the documentation that links their name to the document they are using as primary proof of identity,” Qualls said. “In this case, since Ms. Cooper’s birth certificate (her primary proof of identity) and voter registration card were two different names, the examiner was unable to provide the free ID.”
Despite that, Qualls said, “the examiner should have taken extra steps to determine alternative forms of documentation for Ms. Cooper.”
Kilpatrick has had to call the state at least twice after taking someone to get a photo ID or have a photo added to the driver’s license. State law allows anyone 60 or older to have their picture removed from their license.