Who cares what this Grandma thinks ...?
Answer: We all should ...
link to video
rough transcript:
Mary Lou Hill is 94 years old.
She was born before women got the right to vote and she's been voting since she was 21.
She's convinced that thousands of seniors like herself will be disenfranchised if Minnesota requires a state issued ID to vote.
Mary Lou says "While it is easy for many legislators who voted in favor of photo ID to run down to the government center to update their drivers license or get a Minnesota ID, senior citizens may have a number of problems with this simple activity.
One, they may not drive or have anyone to take them.
Two, they may not be able to walk without pain or at all.
Three, if they are comparatively new to the state they may have difficulty proving who they are. This is especially true for elderly women who probably changed their name once or twice since they were born.
Gathering the documents of a lifetime to prove you are the person who has been voting decades is difficult and may be expensive if duplicate documents are required.
You've all heard the statistics -- 18 percent of people over the age of 65 do not have a current government issued photo ID. That percentage does escalate rapidly as the age increases.
How many 94-year-old women do you know, do you suppose, have a current photo ID?
I do not have an ID that meets the requirements of these bills. These bills would take the vote away from thousands of elderly citizens.
Citizens who have been proudly casting their ballots for 50 or 60 or 70 years.
I join with others urging the legislature to reject these bills and if that fails, in urging Governor Dayton to veto any photo ID that gets to his desk.
Mary Lou Hill is 94 years old. She is no longer "qualified to vote" --
after a Lifetime of Voting.
Mary Lou Hill is NOT alone, in being victimized by this silent Conservative movement sweeping the Nation ...
Grandma Mary Lou Hill is NOT alone ...
Don’t Take the Vote Away from Seniors
blog.aflcio.org -- 2012/01/19
[...]
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Ruthelle, of remote Brokaw, Wis. (pop. 107), does not have a driver’s license, and lacks a birth certificate needed to get a state identification card. She has a Social Security card, a Medicare card, and a baptism certificate. Even if she were to pay $20 to get a birth certificate, her maiden name was misspelled by the attending physician at her home birth. To rectify this, she would need to petition the court and pay a $200 fee. Ruthelle, an elected member of her Village Board since 1996, recently became a plaintiff in a law suit to block the new law, which was authored by Gov. Scott Walker.
Voting laws vary by state, so please check with your state or local elections office for more details. Election laws and procedures can be very complicated, but as retiree activists I believe we have a moral responsibility to defend and educate our fellow seniors on such an important issue.
[...]
Start watching for these stories -- because there will soon be a tidal wave of them. Stories like these -- o
f American Citizens being denied their most basic of Constitutional rights ...
Voter ID laws often end up restricting seniors, poor
The Modesto Bee, Editorial -- Jan 05, 2012
[...]
Elderly voters can be particularly hard hit by voter ID laws. Not only are they less likely to have driver's licenses -- which they either never had or relinquished -- but many also lack valid birth certificates.
A 93-year-old cleaning lady from Tennessee was unable to obtain a voter ID in that state because she was delivered by a midwife in Alabama in 1918 and never got an official birth certificate.
Another elderly Tennessean was initially denied a voter ID when her birth certificate with her maiden name did not match her married name and she was unable to locate her decades-old marriage license.
And a World War II veteran didn't get his voter ID because he was unable to stand in the long line at Tennessee's DMV office where voter IDs were issued.
All of that thanks to Tennessee's voter ID law, which took effect Jan. 1 -- just in time for the presidential election.
[...]
Millions of American Citizens, who went to work every day, cashed their paychecks, paid their Taxes, and paid their many Bills --
over a Lifetime
-- But THAT's not good enough in some states -- that's no longer good enough to prove they are "valid" Citizens.
And we just sat back, and let it happen.
DON'T Let It Happen.
Here is a site, designed to help you, help your Grandparents, maintain their dignity -- to maintain their most basic of American rights:
canivote.org
larger image
This Citizen Rights removal problem is very real -- Get up to speed. Before it's too late.
There is a silent Conservative movement sweeping the Nation ...
Why New Photo ID Laws Mean Some Won't Vote
by Corey Dade, NPR.org -- Jan 28, 2012
Here are the some specifics of what the most strictest states are now requiring of their Senior citizens -- to prove that they exist -- politically speaking ...
can i vote dot org ?
by jamess -- Feb 18, 2012
Help them to keep existing ... Call a senior, ask if they are ready, for the sweeping changes that await them?
If you don't ... Who else will?