Voter ID Slap-Down Appealed

The Publicans in this state are some stubborn sons-of-bitches, and nobody can ever take that away from them.

But it takes more than being a bullheaded stubborn son-of-a-bitch to govern properly. The current crop just doesn't get it.

The decision to appeal the judges decision to block the nations most draconian, disenfranchising Voter ID regulation has been made, and the issue will be heard by the Missouri Supreme Court on October 4, less than a month before the election. If the Supremes should overturn Judge Callahan's ruling and reinstate the law, chaos will ensue on election day.

The Missouri law is a bad piece of legislation. It is narrow in the scope of what constitutes acceptable proof of citizenship. Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., was initially denied a voter ID card that would be required under the Missouri legislation, because he doesn't have a driver's license and couldn't immediately produce a passport or birth certificate. His congressional ID card was not acceptable identification. How can that possibly be spun to assuring ballot integrity? It simply can't be done.

Under the law as it was passed, if I were to get mugged on my way home from school the night before the election and my wallet was stolen, I would have to cast a provissional ballot, and it would not be counted if I did not return with acceptable ID that day.

Screw it. I am not taking any chances. I am voting absentee. I am an adult female, and a resident of this state. I have been a registered voter for 25 years, many of those years in Missouri. I am not a felon, and I have not relinquished my right to vote by taking the citizenship oath of another nation. I will take no chances with my fundamental right to cast a secure ballot.

Right now in Jackson County two possibly insurmountable obstacles are potentially placed in the path of every voter. First, If you do not have a state issued photo ID, barriers are placed in your way. If you are poor you may have difficulty obtaining the supporting documents that are required to obtain that ID. But let's assume that you get to your polling place, present your ID and are given a ballot. It will be tabulated on a Diebold machine. That is the second risk to your vote.

So long as either of these situations could potentially impact my constitutional right to cast a ballot I am confident in, I will retain my control and preserve the integrity of the system by voting absentee. I encourage everyone to do likewise until this bad bill is taken out behind the barn and shot, and until Diebold machines are removed from my polling place and paper ballots are returned.