Former U.S. Marine Turned Away From TN Poll For Refusing to Present Photo ID Under New GOP Law

[BradBlog]

Source: The BRAD BLOG



Former U.S. Marine Turned Away From TN Poll For Refusing to Present Photo ID Under New GOP Law

55-year old former U.S. Marine Tim Thompson was turned away from the polls today, Super Tuesday 2012, in the state of Tennessee, after refusing to present a photo ID before voting, as required by a new law recently passed by Republicans.

Thompson was documented by videographers attempting to cast his vote under the new polling place Photo ID restrictions instituted by TN's Republican-majority legislature and signed into law last year by the state's Republican Gov. Bill Haslam.

The former Lance Corporal, who left the service in 1978, has lived in Nashville since 2004 when he first cast his vote at the same precinct where he was turned away today. In an act of protest, planned in advance and video-taped by a number of media outlets, Thompson refused to show any more than the voter registration card he has previously used for voting in the state.

Video of the confrontation that ensued is posted below.

"This is my voter registration card," Thompson said as he challenged the poll supervisor. "I've used this for 37 years. This was good enough for my father. This was good enough for my grandfather, and I refuse to show you a picture ID"...

FULL STORY, VIDEO: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=9162


Read more: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=9162

[sakabatou]

1. Now you see what these laws are supposed to do

Discourage people from voting.

[rfranklin]

2. Actually they are designed to PREVENT people from voting...

as the law did in this case.

[aquart]

3. Never doubted it.

VOTE REPUBLICAN AND LOSE YOUR VOTE.

[polichick]

4. Brilliant to plan and document this!

[xtraxritical]

6. God bless that man!

I admit I'm an antiwar left wing liberal and have strong misgivings about the military but now I see that I can't paint that picture with such a broad brush. I always thought military guys were all Limbaugh loving RW Republicans now I see I'm wrong. If there's one Marine with the right constitutional instincts there must be many more. This man is so encouraging to me. Thank you sir.

[jwirr]

8. Still true to his oath to protect the nation for enemies both without and within. I am proud of him.

[deacon_sephiroth]

13. ouch

I'm IN the service right now, have been for over a decade.
Yesterday I signed the petition to get Rush off AFN at whitehouse.gov, sent it to all my friends and family, and contacted AFN personally to let them know of my outrage.

I mean say anything you want about me.

but please please never imply that I love or EVER have loved the likes of Rush (the fat guy, not the band... the band is cool).

[Tx4obama]

17. [phone] :) n/t

[PavePusher]

23. Ummm... Ditto.

Sorry, couldn't help myself...

[CRK7376]

73. You and me both

Military for over 33 years and still going strong. I hated having Rush on AFN in Korea. Only good thing about that was his show was followed by NPR news. Hate Rush and his bigotry, his mouth, his views etc...

[mopinko]

14. that's cuz they have rush rammed down their throats.

all part of the indoctrination. a lot of them go in good guys, but they get brainwashed into being ditto-headed killers. many either resist or heal. but that is the program.
that's why afn doesn't want to take him off. he is too useful.

[Betsy Ross]

21. Get to know an anti-war Marine.

I admit most of the Marines I have met moved left after their service (after the Viet Nam war). But all were absolutely stand-up guys, very dedicated, very much driven by their ideals. I have so much respect for them.

[SnowCritter]

29. There are more than a few of us former military

that live over here on "The Left".

[BeGoodDoGood]

41. Bleeding Heart

Yep.

I am a bleeding heart liberal on most issues, USMC and USMCR 1973-93.

Ronald Reagan was one on the worst figures in the whole history of the country.

[xtraxritical]

65. Well, I never thought I would say it, here goes... "Thank you for your service".

Service to the country and especially the constitution. God I'm glad the powers that be could not dim your lights. As for me, I avoided Nam any way I could until the lottery gave me a pass. Before I even graduated H.S. I had friends (close too) killed over there. It framed my opinions for the rest of my life, but you guys are changing it for me, thanks.

[Aristus]

74. Me, too!

I was so gratified to discover, after Bush-Gore 2000, how many of us lefties are veterans or current service personnel. Too many for the reich-wingers to simply dismiss as anomalous.

M1A1 Abrams Main Battle tanker, 1989-1993, Gulf War veteran, and liberal till I DIE!!

My hat is off to this Marine!... :salute:

[rurallib]

5. this is beautiful.

[FailureToCommunicate]

7. Righteous rant by Lance Corporal Thompson. That poll worker had

better days than today!
(Wilford Brimley is that you?)

Republican Gov. Bill Haslam should be ashamed, but he won't be.

[Gruntled Old Man]

9. The video

[BOHICA12]

26. What an asshole.

"I refuse to abide by the law" - is the money quote here. Service does not bestow some sort of sainted aura of privilege on you. If you want to vote in Tennessee or several other states - you have to show who you are. Just saying it with conviction don't make it so!

Making volunteer poll workers' lives hell is not a veteran benefit.

[BradBlog]

30. Yeah, how dare he fight for our right to vote!

"If you want to vote in Tennessee or several other states - you have to show who you are. Just saying it with conviction don't make it so!"

Actually, he did show who he was. He showed his voter registration card. So, you were saying?...

[boppers]

36. I think he should do this at 10-15 polling places.

Just to show how they all discriminate.

[dropkickpa]

39. Yep, they have nothing to do with it

Most poll workers are retirees (at least around me, been working the polls for 10 years, I am by far the youngest person working them in miles). They work a 12-14 hour day, get $100, and that's it. Poll workers have NOTHING to do with law or policy, and being a mega-douche to some poor old man who is just following the rules is a dick move.

The better option is to go to the state legislature and bitch and yell, they are actually responsible for your issue.

[LanternWaste]

44. Voting, however, is.

"Making volunteer poll workers' lives hell is not a veteran benefit..."

Voting, however, is.

[BOHICA12]

52. And because his snit was more important than his vote

... he gave up that right (benefit) for the day!

[EFerrari]

53. His "snit" is important to a lot of people, including the ACLU and the CCR.

It should be important to US, too, because these vote suppression laws are to present people from voting for Democrats in particular.

[awoke_in_2003]

56. yes, he should shut up and listen to his betters...

just in case

[LanternWaste]

70. I imagine it's rather easy to confuse "snit" and "right to vote"

I imagine it's rather easy to confuse "snit" and "right to vote" if one is dogmatic enough...

[crim son]

66. He's making a point, not being an asshole. n/t

[BOHICA12]

67. Having a point does not immunize your conduct.

...asshole, boor, bully - your pick, he displayed all three tendencies.

[NickB79]

72. Yep, and that bitch Rosa Parks should have just moved to the back of the bus

Making that poor bus driver's life hell by indignantly demanding the right to sit where she pleased. The nerve

Some laws shouldn't be abided by, and this is clearly one of them.

[SunSeeker]

10. I appreciate that you're still fighing for your country, big guy! nt

[liberal N proud]

11. Here is how it went when I voted today in Ohio

You go in, hand them your photo ID, then you have to tell them how to spell your name and your address.

Really, I just gave you an ID with my picture on it. Do you think I don't know who I am?

This is just stupid.

Then you still have to sign that you voted.

[Maeve]

42. If they asked you to spell your name and address, they went too far

Presenting a valid ID (and it does not have to be a photo ID in Ohio--a recent utility bill with the voter's name and address as it appears in the signature book is sufficient) is all the law and the state precinct officials' training manual require. You do have to sign--and yesterday you had to declare for a political party or "issues only" ballot.
(And yeah, a 15 hour day is just as long as it sounds!)

[liberal N proud]

43. The spelling was probably a throw-back to the days when they couldn't find your name in the book

It was just agrivating how they give you a the third degree just to excersize you civic duty.

[Hugabear]

12. Have the right-wing hacks started to attack this guy yet?

I'm sure it's only a matter of time before they denounce this as a publicity stunt.

[Dont call me Shirley]

15. Thank you Tim Thompson

[southerncrone]

16. Tim Thompson--Still serving his country honorably!

Go, Tim!!

[Tx4obama]

18. K & R n/t

[chrisa]

19. Semper Fi

Truly a man with real balls - something that can't be said of the GOP.

[Tx4obama]

20. ALSO: 86-Year-Old Ohio Veteran Can’t Vote After Government-Issued ID Is Rejected At Poll

86-Year-Old Ohio Veteran Can’t Vote After Government-Issued ID Is Rejected At Poll

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/03/06/439324/86-year-old-ohio-veteran-cant-vote-after-government-issued-id-is-rejected-at-poll/

[fhrtjtr]

22. Spam deleted by uppityperson (MIR Team)

[ProfessionalLeftist]

25. I agree with the Marine

But yelling at a volunteer poll worker won't help. He needs to yell at those who wrote and passed the law, particularly the smarmy governor who signed and did not veto the legislation.

[DallasNE]

27. There Is More That Can Be Done

I was a poll worker for over 25 years before I had to resign due to travel associated with work. These poll workers should resign in protest, causing havoc with even conducting elections. With a requirement for rough balance between parties it wouldn't take any Republicans to really gum up the works. I know if I were still an active poll worker I would resign in protest.

And, yes, I served in the military too. In fact, I was denied the vote while on active duty. I was in basic training and I asked about how to go about applying for an absentee ballot and was told that they would let us know at the proper time. When they never said anything I asked again. They told me I was too late because the deadline had passed. I asked how that could be and they insisted that they told me. I pressed for what date they told me and on reconstruction it was a day I was pulling KP and they didn't bother to let those know that were on other duty. It sucked but that was the military. That was in 1962 and in the middle of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

[freshwest]

28. Sadly, all I see here is the result, a WIN for GOP voter suppression.

The vet refused to vote because he wanted to make a point. Thus his voice will not be heard by anyone running his state.

IMHO, those who can afford to pay for the ID should to do so, in order to vote the GOP out of office there. The result, no matter what is said, is that they won this round and will win the next one.

Perhaps this was valid on the basis that this man's vote would have been in the minority. The state would go to the GOP in any case by reason of numbers.

Still, he did his best and made good points there. Thanks Brad.

BTW, I am friends with a number of ex and current military and they are NOT conservative, do not listen to RW radio or FOX, and are not teabaggers, either. If fact, they are more liberal than a number of people I see online. Just sayin'

[ben-]

31. I dont get it.

Whats the big deal about having to show your id when you vote? Ive voted since i was 18 in a few different states, and ive always been asked for my id, and im fine with that i show it for lottery tickets, alcohol, i show it to get a job, thats what the thing is for to prove who you are. Im fine with people having to show their id to vote, it certainly makes it harder for dead people to show up at polling places.

[jeff47]

32. IDs aren't free.

They're especially not free when the DMV is only open 9-5 on weekdays. And isn't in walking distance from your house. You do realize there are people who can't afford cars, right?

You are arguing that someone should lose their right to vote because they can't take time off work, or have better things to do with $40. Like buy food.

And no, it doesn't make it any harder for dead people to show up. Fake IDs are quite easy to make, if you have some cash backing up your efforts.

On the plus side, nobody's been able to document a case of a dead person showing up to vote even without voter ID laws. Which pretty much means voter ID laws are only designed for voter suppression. But good job eating up the rhetoric with a spoon!

[ben-]

46. State id's arent that expensive.

I thought chicago had a documented problem with nonliving voters.(google seems to imply that)

So if they made getting a state id card free (costs about 10-2 bucks here in ohio) would it be better for you? I still dont see the problem with having to prove who you are to vote.

If all I need is a bill, and a voters id card I could go vote for all the males in my family who dont bother to do it themselves.

[jeff47]

49. You are forgetting to add in the price of getting to the DMV

It isn't free to get there, especially when you have to take time off work and arrange for someone to transport you to the DMV.

I still dont see the problem with having to prove who you are to vote.

Because you have decided to disenfranchise people because they are poor. There's a reason poll taxes were enacted, and there's a reason they were declared unconstitutional. The ID requirement is another poll tax.

I thought chicago had a documented problem with nonliving voters

There's all sorts of claims about the Chicago "machine" stuffing ballot boxes. None have been proven. Considering the ease of proving a dead person voted, there would be several documented cases by now if the claims were true.

The only cases I'm aware of fall into two categories:
1) Someone voted absentee and died between mailing their ballot and election day.
2) The poll worker accidentally marked "John Smith, Sr" when "John Smith, Jr" voted. Or similar mismarking of the sign in sheet at the polls.

If all I need is a bill, and a voters id card I could go vote for all the males in my family who dont bother to do it themselves.

You may find the poll workers will be a tad suspicious when the same person comes in multiple times using different names.

[BradBlog]

60. Because you can afford one....

"I thought chicago had a documented problem with nonliving voters.(google seems to imply that)"

You thought wrong. Where there may have been such problems years ago, it did not take place at the polling place, by and large, it would take place via absentee ballots. Polling place Photo ID does nothing to prevent that. The ONLY type of voter fraud potentially deterred by such restrictions is in-person polling place impersonation, which is INCREDIBLY rare. In the meantime, tens if not hundreds of thousands of voters stand to lose their right to cast their legal ballot at all if such restrictions are put in place.

"So if they made getting a state id card free (costs about 10-2 bucks here in ohio) would it be better for you?"

In 1967, the Supreme Court ruled that a $1.50 poll tax was unconstitional. So what's your point again?

"I still dont see the problem with having to prove who you are to vote."

That already happens. By federal law. First time registrants who don't register in person must present an ID when voting at the polling place for the first time. Many other states have Voter ID laws which are no problem, because they are not draconian and meant to suppress the vote as polling place Photo ID restrictions are. Those states allow for dozens of different types of IDs to identify voters.

For example, in SC, which already had one of the most restrictive voter ID laws in the nation, they had required a state-issued drivers license, a state-issued DMV ID card or a voter registration card. Their NEW Photo ID law removed the voter registration card as a form of possible ID, despite, by SC's own statistics, the DoJ found that registered minority voters were 20% more likely to lack such ID than white voters. The law was, thankfully, rejected by the DoJ under the Voting Rights Act (though the state is appealing that decision anyway...because they want to disenfranchise voters. They do not have any examples of voter fraud in the state that would be deterred by Photo ID restrictions which wouldn't already be deterred by existing laws.)

"If all I need is a bill, and a voters id card I could go vote for all the males in my family who dont bother to do it themselves."

Try it! See how that works for ya. You MIGHT be able to cast a single vote for someone else. If you're lucky. It won't affect an election, but go for it! You're only risking about 5 years in jail and $10,000 fine. Have fun!

[Demit]

35. The man's voter registration card proved who he was.

[SATIRical]

45. If he dropped his card on the way in

and someone else picked it up and presented it, does that prove that person is the Marine?

[jeff47]

50. If I make a fake driver's license with your name and address and my picture

Does that prove I'm you?

Photo IDs aren't magic talismans.

On the other hand, they're great for making sure people who tend to vote for Democrats can't vote.

[SATIRical]

51. Do you have the means

to make a fake ID that would pass an inspection?

I don't. And I don't know where to go to get one made of that quality.

I can, however, pick up a card.

I imagine most people are in a similar position to mine.

[jeff47]

55. Yes. It's called the Internet.

Can buy 'em for all 50 states at once, if you so choose.

If you'd prefer to do it yourself, laminated plastic isn't exactly difficult technology.

[SATIRical]

58. Don't forget

you would need to make it with the identifying information of a registered voter.

[jeff47]

61. I need that information with or without a photo ID law

Without photo ID, you still have to give the name and address of a registered voter to the poll worker.

[SATIRical]

62. Yep.

And this just adds one additional step to prevent fraud.

Do you think voting is more or less important than buying alcohol, cashing a check, or taking the SAT?

[jeff47]

63. It is more important, which is why it should not be restricted to people with money.

There are lots of documented cases of underage people trying to buy alcohol.
There are lots of documented cases of check fraud.
There are very, very few documented cases of voter fraud. There are none that would be prevented by photo ID laws.

Until you make it absolutely free to get a state-issued photo ID, including not paying for travel to-and-from the DMV, not paying for documents necessary to get the ID, as well as not having to take time off work, then you can't have a photo ID law.

Until then, you do not get to deny other people their right to vote.

[SATIRical]

64. Do we have to drive people

to the polling station as well?

I fully support the state IDs being free. As for the other issues, nope. When the country was founded did people have to give up work time and have to expend resources to vote? Yep.

Expecting people to get reasonable documentation of who they are is, IMHO, reasonable.

[BradBlog]

68. I don't know who you are, Jeff47, but...

...you're hired!

Thank you!

[BradBlog]

69. Just FYI...

...I can't remember the last time I had to show my ID to enjoy the PRIVILEGE (not the RIGHT, like voting is) of buying alchohol.

BTW, there are already ID requirements in most states. Reasonable ones allowing for drivers license or bank statement or check stub or voter registration card, etc. That's not the problem. It's the draconian, narrow, state-issued Photo ID which many people do not have, that is the problem.

Understand the problem -- and the scam ---- yet? Or you just don't care?

[LanternWaste]

71. And it adds one additional step to prevent voting.

"And this just adds one additional step to prevent fraud...."

And it adds one additional step to prevent voting. Although I am curious-- you can of course lead us to a sustained, consistent and endemic problem with voter fraud which the Voter ID solution solves, yes? Or is it merely a statistical aberration over-dramatized to a point in which it allows politicians to reduce voter rolls?

[Demit]

57. That's a ridiculous scenario. Do you vote very often? Can you picture that happening in your polling

place? That someone would be coming in to vote, see a card on the ground, then decide to commit a felony by using someone else's identity instead of his own? Then, while he's waiting in line, if there is one, practice that person's signature so it will match the one in the book the poll worker makes him sign? Are you nuts, or have you just never had the experience of what actually happens in a polling place on election day?

[TexasProgresive]

37. $15 in Texas

And in my town they moved DPS to the city limits on a highway with no sidewalks. Coincidence? I think not.

[BradBlog]

59. I think you do

"Whats the big deal about having to show your id when you vote? Ive voted since i was 18 in a few different states, and ive always been asked for my id"

Actually, I suspect you've been asked for *an* ID, not for a state-issued Photo ID. Nonetheless, you're lucky, because you have one! The 21 million Americans who don't, and could be disenfranchised by such laws, not as lucky. Do you care?

"im fine with that i show it for lottery tickets, alcohol, i show it to get a job, thats what the thing is for to prove who you are."

I'm sure you're fine with that. YOU HAVE ONE. Those who don't, can't. That said, no, you do NOT need it for lottery tickets, alchohol or to get a job. I've done all three of those things over and over again over the last several decades without ever being asked for an ID. Go figure!

Either way, however, the things you mention are PRIVILEGES. Voting, on the hand, is a RIGHT. Do I need to explain the difference to you?

"Im fine with people having to show their id to vote, it certainly makes it harder for dead people to show up at polling places."

So would a blood sample. However, dead people are NOT showing up at polling places. Do you have evidence to the contrary?

[KeepItReal]

33. Where's AG Eric Holder?

These ID laws are made to subvert the Voting Rights Act

[ObaMania]

34. Exactly

Queue the crickets chirping.

[baldguy]

38. Step One: Stop calling them Voter ID laws & call them what they are - Vote Supression Laws.

[EFerrari]

54. That's right. Let's just say it out loud. n/t

[dotymed]

40. I live in Clarksville, Tn.

Which is right down the road (50 miles) and adjacent to Ft. Campbell,Ky. They made it difficult to even locate where your precinct voting was located. TN. GAVE THEIR VOTE TO SANTORUM. OMG, I moved back here (after 25 years) to be close to my family. Even my old running buddies are Republicans who think I AM PROPAGANDIZED by the left, when I speak the truth to them about anything political. I have to (if I can) get them to look at some government statistic sites to prove the truth to them, and they usually, even then, reject the truth. I earned more money here 25 years ago, for the same job, than they now pay heir "help." This REd state is hell to me and I have to move. Most of my Union bumper stickers have diappeared....I am afraid to put my OBAMA sticker on.

[sonias]

47. Bless Tim Thompson!

What an awesome display!

[sgsmith]

48. Looks like a US passport wouldn't be sufficient to prove id

http://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/elections/Voters/FAQ/ID.aspx

On the assumption that the identification must show the voter's address, a United States Passport Book or Card would not be sufficient identification.