Judge: Ohio Homeless Voters Can List Park Benches as Addresses

[Sapiens]

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/10...hes-addresses/

Judge: Ohio Homeless Voters Can List Park Benches as Addresses

A federal judge in Ohio has ruled that counties must allow homeless voters to list park benches and other locations that aren't buildings as their addresses.

U.S. District Judge Edmund Sargus also ruled that provisional ballots can't be invalidated because of poll worker errors.

Monday's ruling resolved the final two pieces of a settlement between the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless and Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner.

The coalition agreed to drop a constitutional challenge to Ohio's voter identification law until after the Nov. 4 election. In return, Brunner and the coalition agreed on procedures to verify provisional ballots across all Ohio counties.

The coalition was concerned that unequal treatment of provisional ballots would disenfranchise some voters.

I am willing to give them a mortgage as long as Treasury buys the paper!

[Kimmons]

Re: Judge: Ohio Homeless Voters Can List Park Benches as Addresses

So people who don't have a SS # can open a bank account, people who don't have an address can use a park bench...whats next, people who don't remember their name can make one up? Really? Must be nice to remain anonymous.

[*T*]

Re: Judge: Ohio Homeless Voters Can List Park Benches as Addresses

Well, they should be allowed to vote, no?

[Master Shake]

Re: Judge: Ohio Homeless Voters Can List Park Benches as Addresses

Well, they should be allowed to vote, no?

No. IMO, anyone without a photo ID should not be allowed to vote. Hell, anyone who does not pay taxes shouldn't be allowed to vote.

The expansion of the franchise ultimately leads to the demise of republics, again, imo.

[sirbrian82]

Re: Judge: Ohio Homeless Voters Can List Park Benches as Addresses

No. IMO, anyone without a photo ID should not be allowed to vote. Hell, anyone who does not pay taxes shouldn't be allowed to vote.

The expansion of the franchise ultimately leads to the demise of republics, again, imo.

People fall on hard times-people are born into homelessness-people serve in the military and end up homeless. Maybe it's for 6 months-maybe 6 years. Why should they lose something as basic as the right to vote? We treat the homeless like garbage and I find it puzzling/discouraging.

[don]

Re: Judge: Ohio Homeless Voters Can List Park Benches as Addresses

So people who don't have a SS # can open a bank account, people who don't have an address can use a park bench...whats next, people who don't remember their name can make one up? Really? Must be nice to remain anonymous.

Yes, Kimmons, and all this in the era of total information awareness. Nice trick, eh

[grizam303]

Re: Judge: Ohio Homeless Voters Can List Park Benches as Addresses

People fall on hard times-people are born into homelessness-people serve in the military and end up homeless. Maybe it's for 6 months-maybe 6 years. Why should they lose something as basic as the right to vote? We treat the homeless like garbage and I find it puzzling/discouraging.

I think I remember census data indicating around 12% of people are veterans, though I remember thinking that seemed high.

According to the National Survey of Homeless Assistance Providers and Clients (U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness and the Urban Institute, 1999), veterans account for 23% of all homeless people in America. (http://www.nchv.org/background.cfm)

Also, I'm not sure what kind of taxes people expect the homeless to pay. Property tax? Income tax for cans they collect? Payroll tax?

People living on the street are Americans too. Just because they don't conform to certain materialistic standards doesn't mean they shouldn't be afforded their constitutional rights.

[we_are_toast]

Re: Judge: Ohio Homeless Voters Can List Park Benches as Addresses

No. IMO, anyone without a photo ID should not be allowed to vote. Hell, anyone who does not pay taxes shouldn't be allowed to vote.

The expansion of the franchise ultimately leads to the demise of republics, again, imo.

In my not at all humble opinion, anyone who would deny the most fundamental principle of democracy, the right to choose your own leaders, doesn't understand what democracy is and ought to search the world for another form of government which would suit their dictatorial or monarchal philosophy.

Anyone who would think that the rights and freedoms enjoyed in democracies should be proportional to the amount of taxes you pay, is a threat to those freedoms. But as a firm believer in the principles of democracy, I would extend the right to participate, to every citizen no matter how anti-democratic their publicly stated inclinations might be.

[lurker]

Re: Judge: Ohio Homeless Voters Can List Park Benches as Addresses

I agree with others who state that all citizens should be allowed to vote. Denying voting rights based on property ownership is the thin end of a dangerous wedge.

While we're on the subject plutocrats already get a much more heavily weighted vote. In fact their votes are weighted to the extent that the plebs barely count. Their parallel voting system is called lobbying.

[goadam1]

Re: Judge: Ohio Homeless Voters Can List Park Benches as Addresses

I think this should remain an economic blog and not a political one. Discussions of this kind of nature should be left on freerepublic and kos.

[goadam1]

Re: Judge: Ohio Homeless Voters Can List Park Benches as Addresses

I meant forum not blog.

[drumminj]

Re: Judge: Ohio Homeless Voters Can List Park Benches as Addresses

In my not at all humble opinion, anyone who would deny the most fundamental principle of democracy, the right to choose your own leaders, doesn't understand what democracy is and ought to search the world for another form of government which would suit their dictatorial or monarchal philosophy.

This thread has actually given me a moment of great insight, as I long have held a position that one's vote should be diminished if one is not a contributor to society (I wouldn't go so far as giving someone zero input).

In reading your statement above, the problem became clear to me. I agree with what you say - all of the governed should have a voice in who their "leaders" are, in a democracy (please remember the US is a democratic republic, though, for good reason). At least for me, the desire to restrict others' voices based on their contributions is a function of the size of the government, and it's current function as a wealth-redistribution mechanism (via taxes, social programs, gov't contracts, etc etc). Unfortunately, right now, anyone who has a voice on who their leader is also has a claim on my wealth and my labor (indirectly), which I take issue with.

Shrink the federal government and take away its power to tax/redistribute wealth, and I bet a lot of people will have no objection to every citizen voting, regardless of their level of education, employment status, and residence.

[phirang]

Re: Judge: Ohio Homeless Voters Can List Park Benches as Addresses

This thread has actually given me a moment of great insight, as I long have held a position that one's vote should be diminished if one is not a contributor to society (I wouldn't go so far as giving someone zero input).

In reading your statement above, the problem became clear to me. I agree with what you say - all of the governed should have a voice in who their "leaders" are, in a democracy (please remember the US is a democratic republic, though, for good reason). At least for me, the desire to restrict others' voices based on their contributions is a function of the size of the government, and it's current function as a wealth-redistribution mechanism (via taxes, social programs, gov't contracts, etc etc). Unfortunately, right now, anyone who has a voice on who their leader is also has a claim on my wealth and my labor (indirectly), which I take issue with.

Shrink the federal government and take away its power to tax/redistribute wealth, and I bet a lot of people will have no objection to every citizen voting, regardless of their level of education, employment status, and residence.

At this point, the sooner we're all enslaved, the better: the anticipation is killing me.

[sutro]

Re: Judge: Ohio Homeless Voters Can List Park Benches as Addresses

Note the source ladies and gentlemen, FOX, so lets not get too worked up! By the way, in my humble experience of picking up bums on the ambulance and buying back their bottles and cans at my recycling centers, they still shake down as U.S. Citizens and as such they can not legally be denied the right to vote. Period.