by George Shaw
Member since:
February 16, 2006

So, this is what the U.S. is becoming.

August 19, 2012 04:45 PM UTC
views: 0 | 9 people recommend this | comments: 47

Who would have believed that the United States would become a place where a war widow would have to legally change back to her maiden name in order to continue to vote.

http://sayitaintsoalready.com/2012/08/19/a-tale-of-outrageous-voter-suppression-in-kansas/

Comments: 47

Betty S. Aug 19, 2012, 5:05pm UTC
Oh Dear Lord! Surely we haven't gotten that low.This just stinks.
George Shaw Aug 19, 2012, 5:22pm UTC
Betty, yes it has gotten that low, and another example would be the judge upholding Penn. States new voter exclusion law after the State stipulated that it had no examples of the voter fraud which the law was supposed to stop.
Jim G. Aug 20, 2012, 3:07pm UTC
And the judicial system is unfettered by politics?
George Shaw Aug 20, 2012, 3:13pm UTC
You betcha! wink wink
Betty S. Aug 20, 2012, 5:31pm UTC
Thank God I don't live in Penn State.
George Shaw Aug 20, 2012, 7:37pm UTC
There are about 13 other states which have passed voting laws as bad or worse.
Juan J Martinez Aug 19, 2012, 5:08pm UTC
The GOP's attempt to purge voters that are supposedly illegal is just a smoke screen to purge voters that they know lean towards voting against them.
George Shaw Aug 19, 2012, 5:26pm UTC
Juan, you and I, and only a few other people know that, I am sorry to say. Soon, you will see some wing-nuts coming onto this post and trying to deny that this is happening. Either that, or they will talk about the voter fraud, which even Penn. State said wasn't happening, as the reason for these kinds of things.
Juan J Martinez Aug 19, 2012, 5:49pm UTC
I just read an article about how a case study of alleged election-fraud cases since 2000 discovered that while fraud has and does occurred, the rate is infinitesimal, and in-person voter impersonation, which is the fuel spurning the GOP’s efforts to purge voter pools and enact so-called tougher voter ID laws, is “virtually non-existent”.
George Shaw Aug 19, 2012, 5:54pm UTC
That is correct. Someone had it worked out on TV the other night, but they just said it -- they didn't show the figure. It was .00001% (I am not sure if it was more than 4 zeros) of the vote, and that was all voter fraud.
Tanya P. Aug 19, 2012, 5:23pm UTC
George, this doesn't ring true to me. She would have been voting under her own name all these years, only sharing the last name. She would not have been voting under her husband's full name, but her own. I know there have been issues about getting photo ID from some states, but this story just doesn't seem likely, at least not in the way it is written.
George Shaw Aug 19, 2012, 5:28pm UTC
No, Tanya, she had been voting using her name, the last of which was her husband's last name. She was told that she had to get her name changed, meaning her last name, back to her maiden name.
Tanya P. Aug 19, 2012, 5:41pm UTC
That is what is not ringing true.....but I did go back and reread, seeing there was an add'l link in the article. I am now reading it and it seems to be giving more detail. I know there are huge issues around this in some key states, but am not current on much of it, beyond just the initial abstract.

In this initial article, it didn't state that the widow didn't have a photo ID, only that the name was an issue. That married name IS her legal name, so this makes no sense to me; probably because it is incomplete. ---- Back to reading the article that was linked to this one....
Tanya P. Aug 19, 2012, 5:48pm UTC
Yeah, that article clarified some of these issues for me.....although I still don't get why they told the elderly woman to change her name back to her maiden name. Her married name IS her legal name. ---- Yes, I see better now that these issues seem to be 'fixed', more than I realized, to prevent many from voting. Scary issues here.
George Shaw Aug 19, 2012, 5:49pm UTC
But, you see, it doesn't match her birth certificate.
Tanya P. Aug 19, 2012, 8:27pm UTC
Oh. Shoot. I did not pick that up. Thanks, George.
George Shaw Aug 19, 2012, 9:18pm UTC
Yeah, and she had her marriage license, but that wasn't good enough.
lena k. Aug 19, 2012, 5:51pm UTC
oh my
George Shaw Aug 19, 2012, 5:55pm UTC
Yes!
teri a. Aug 19, 2012, 6:16pm UTC
George, this national look by state may be of interest. You can hover over.
George Shaw Aug 19, 2012, 6:25pm UTC
Interesting, but Penn. State, for example, is out of date. Their photo ID law passed and was upheld by the court just a few days ago.
teri a. Aug 19, 2012, 6:30pm UTC
Oh, I totally agree...and I only wonder what it means that this official site has such a lag, if that's all it is (a "lag")...I don't know how often this is updated but how much more official can a site be than this one---I have no idea, and what happens if folks rely on it? I again have no idea...
teri a. Aug 19, 2012, 6:36pm UTC
I also couldn't retrieve additional information even after clicking on a state despite how the page that comes up maps to a different page by name but returns the same national page. It's more disturbing the more I think of it...
George Shaw Aug 19, 2012, 6:37pm UTC
All good questions, and it is really scary to see how far the move to restrict voting has already gone.
teri a. Aug 19, 2012, 6:58pm UTC
Darn it---just vanished my comment I was editing....
teri a. Aug 19, 2012, 7:05pm UTC
I said...Below is contact data for the NCSL for any who care to complain inform them the map is out of date and state pages don't work since all we need is some more wrong information... (I've contacted them.) It would be a handy national perspective if the thing worked. A tad unbelievable really...

NCSLS elections staff DC office ph: 202-624-5400
NCSL Fax: 202-737-1069
NCSL twitter: @NCSLorg
NCSL email: elections-info@ncsl.org
teri a. Aug 19, 2012, 7:22pm UTC
...For the record they have a Denver office too...hmmm...plot thickens...Tel: 303-364-7700 | Fax: 303-364-7800.
George Shaw Aug 19, 2012, 9:21pm UTC
Very intereeesting, as Sgt. Schultz would say.
Jim G. Aug 20, 2012, 3:12pm UTC
Wasn't that Col. Klink? Sgt. Schultz was "I know nothing!"


Pete S. Aug 20, 2012, 3:18pm UTC
It was Arte Johnson's unnamed German soldier on Laugh-In who said "Verrrry interesting!"
George Shaw Aug 20, 2012, 3:30pm UTC
Pete, I believe that you are correct.
Dennis Gilman Aug 19, 2012, 9:34pm UTC
What site was that? How come I was already logged in when I went there?

Just goes to show what can happen when you go too far or take the wrong steps to try to correct a problem.

BTW, What was her married name? Was it a Hispanic name?
George Shaw Aug 19, 2012, 10:16pm UTC
The last name wasn't given, but it was probably Anglo.
Dennis Gilman Aug 19, 2012, 11:14pm UTC
Why would an Anglo name cause any problems?
George Shaw Aug 20, 2012, 2:23am UTC
With the new laws, there are all kinds of problems, but most of them fall on the old, the poor, and the various minorities.
Jim G. Aug 20, 2012, 3:13pm UTC
A soluthion in search of a problem.....
Because of the custom of taking a husband's family name, women are at risk for not having correct ID.

Roberta Collins Aug 19, 2012, 11:32pm UTC
Thats for sure, my mom gave birth to three kids, me, my brother, my sister, on each of our birth certificates her name is different: one has Estella Nancy Jean and then her maiden name, one has Nancy Jean and one they had a misspell and it has Estella Nancy Jane. If we ever had to prove she was our mother it would not look as though we had the same mom. She didn't even know her name was Estella until she need a birthcertificate for the first time as an adult, her mom had he sister aunt go up and put in for the birth certificate for her, Nancy Jean, well her name was Estella and she wanted someone to name their kid after her and changed it before she took it to the courts.
Roberta Collins Aug 19, 2012, 11:33pm UTC
sorry, it was mamaw's aunt that did that, man I really messed that one up, lol.
George Shaw Aug 20, 2012, 2:23am UTC
Interesting, but yes it could cause some confusion.
Chris Downie Aug 20, 2012, 5:23pm UTC
The United States becomes more like Putins Russia every day.
George Shaw Aug 20, 2012, 7:41pm UTC
Jeez, I am glad you didn't say Germany in the 1930's. LOL
Chris Downie Aug 20, 2012, 8:09pm UTC
Funny you should say that George. It occurred to me that Adolf Hitler was elected as chancellor of Germany in January 1993. However it would be unfair to draw any comparison with George W Bush in January 2001. After all Hitler didn't have a brother to rig the election for him like G.W.
Vicente Duque Aug 20, 2012, 10:02pm UTC

Thanks George

From the Article :

“Well, don’t punish me…I am an American citizen….my husband and son both fought and died in wars for this country and I’m not going to be able to vote?”


********************
George Shaw Aug 21, 2012, 1:27am UTC
Yes, can you believe it?

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