Rick Perry: South Carolina Is At War With The Government On Voter ID

Texas Gov. Rick Perry said on Monday that he would continue to fight for voter identification laws in Texas, responding to a somewhat leading question tied to Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

The South Carolina and Texas laws would require voters to provide a photo I.D. at the polls, which could keep some low-income, young or minority residents from voting. The Justice Department is attempting to block these laws.

"Now, Gov. Perry, are you suggesting on this Martin Luther King Jr. day that the federal government has no business scrutinizing the states where they were denied the right to vote?" debate moderator Juan Williams asked.

Perry did not back down from the issue. He said the federal government is wrong to go after such laws, adding that the Justice Department was wrong to challenge state immigration laws.

"I'm saying the state of Texas is under assault by federal government," he said. "I'm saying also that South Carolina is at war with this federal government and with this administration."

The Justice Department also sued to block immigration laws in South Carolina, Alabama, Arizona, Georgia and Indiana, based on a claim that they preempted federal law and could violate civil rights.

"When you look at what this Justice Department has done, not only have they taken them to task on voter I.D., they have also taken them to task on their immigration law, and the most egregious thing is the National Labor Relations Board where they come into a right to work state and tell the state of South Carolina we aren't going to let a private company come in here," he continued.

He said the attempts to block those laws is unconstitutional, and then moved to a favorite topic of his, saying the government is "at war against organized religion" because of its policies on funds to Catholic charities.

"If that's not a war on religion, I don't know what it is," he said. "And this administration is out of control."

Comments

[Texan Disappointment]

10:26 AM on 01/19/2012

I am a little upset. Apparently Texas is being assaulted and South Carolina goes to war. As a Texan, I feel as though Texans should have been first. Now, if we jump on the bandwagon, we are merely followers or worse yet, South Carolinian groupies. This is pretty upsetting.
Still, if we secede from the Union, we finally get that poll tax implemented. Moreover, I think that we need to include sexual orientation and political affiliation on the voter ID cards. I mean, Virginia is ahead of us in using these criteria to determine if you can adopt a child. I think it would make life a lot easier if we just included this information on our driver's license so we could determine who could vote, who could have children, who could drive on the road, who could enter a diner and which side they could sit. I think that we could use those cards to determine which end of the bus people should ride on. We need to return to the good old days where we could see who the people were that we were suppose to hate and discriminate against. These new cards would be so helpful for that. No matter what Rick Perry says, Texas still leads the way.

[perri grin]

05:50 PM on 01/17/2012

make it stop.

[obamathegreat235]

03:20 PM on 01/17/2012

I think this voter id pursuit is old fashioned Southern trickery to disenfranchise qualified voters in order to disrupt Obama's chances of getting elected. President Obama is needed more than ever in order to protect the civil liberties of all because republicans will not do it.

"The Obama administration has blocked South Carolina's tough voter ID law, citing possible minority disenfranchisement. The spread of such laws is reviving a Democratic-Republican feud over voting rights."

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2012/0111/Partisan-feud-escalates-over-voter-ID-laws-in-South-Carolina-other-states

[Jefferson78]

03:11 PM on 01/17/2012

Of course you should provide valid ID to vote, just like when you cash a check, rent a video, drive a car, purchase alcohol or tobacco, get a job.

[seegray]

04:04 PM on 01/17/2012

'Cept those other things aren't constitutionally protected activities, are they?

[itschuck2c]

06:03 PM on 01/17/2012

Voting is a fundamental right not a constitutional right, Bush v. Gore, 531 U.S. 98 (2000), the Supreme Court noted that, "The individual citizen has no federal constituti­­onal right to vote for electors for the President of the United States.

[Summer77]

02:31 PM on 01/17/2012

Rick is going nowhere fast he is like a kid taking a tantrum so that you have to listen him. Why haven't they use Photo ID in any of their ongoing Elections? Are the only people who commit fraud all other groups and party or People other then the Republicans O_O

[StopMakingSense2]

12:27 PM on 01/17/2012

Not that birth certificate the other one! The ones from the conservative archive of bogus records are the only acceptable ones. Funny thing is there are no democrats in it! Conservatives are always looking for ways to contract democracy by disenfranchising their opponents. It's what a patriot would do, right? After all if everyone voted they wouldn't win!

[HippieChick]

12:21 PM on 01/17/2012

"Texas Gov. Rick Perry said on Monday that he would continue to fight for voter identification laws in Texas"
----------------------------------
Right Rick - gerrymandering Texas districts has not disenfranchised voters enough (although no one but republicans can be elected in Texas). You just have to drive that voting rights destruction stake clean through the heart of what is left of the right to vote in this state. Perry is such an extreme reprobate (but what republican isn't these days)

[seegray]

04:05 PM on 01/17/2012

Fanned.

[theistus]

12:18 PM on 01/17/2012

So here's a question: would requiring photo ID's disenfranchise more people than it would prevent fraud?

[HippieChick]

12:29 PM on 01/17/2012

REAL voting fraud was Diebold and the 2004 Ohio elections. Since republicans instigated that massive corruption of the election, there was not a peep about Diebold and republicans being deeply implicated in the theft of the 2004 election in Ohio.

[RobietheCat]

12:49 PM on 01/17/2012

Any voting fraud is bad news.

I opposed Diebold machines back then as a danger, and luckily in California we have a great Secy of State Debra Bowen, who had them tested against reasonable requirements and they failed. Good.

CA needs photo ID for voting now.

[seegray]

04:18 PM on 01/17/2012

So, its okay to disenfranchise?

Does that apply to other constitutional rights as well?

For example, if we were to have a law that infringed on SOME people - who would otherwise be fine (e.g., non-felons) - from owning guns it would be okay as long as it kept actual people who shouldn't own them away? Its alright as long as it only INFRINGES on SOME PEOPLE'S RIGHTS? Am I understanding you correctly???

[theistus]

02:16 PM on 01/18/2012

I think you misunderstood my question to be a statement or some type of advocacy. It was a question, seeking information, which would hopefully help inform people's thinking, as the answer could change how one views the issue.

[Iamthx1138]

12:14 PM on 01/17/2012

The true purpose of the voter ID law is simple: prevent as many potential democratic voters as possible from voting. That's why, under the new law, student ID cards are NOT a valid form of ID (since the majority of young college age people tend to vote democratic), while an NRA card IS considered valid (since most NRA members tend to vote republican). Any sanctimonious yarn about "eliminating voter fraud" is pure, simple BS.

[happyfella73]

12:13 PM on 01/17/2012

Well Rick, maybe they should just secede. You can be President of TX and SC. Good luck with that.

[Iamthx1138]

12:08 PM on 01/17/2012

These GOP candidates sure do know how to send their coded messages to their white voters letting them know "I'm with YOU!", don't they.

[SantaMonican]

11:53 AM on 01/17/2012

The GOP has middle class republicans convinced that they are in favor of smaller Government-

then the GOP decide that all abortions should be illegal and monitored by the government...
that all birth control should be illegal....
that new voter ID laws should be enacted to combat non existent voter fraud
that Medicare should be replaced by a new government voucher system..
that social security should be changed to Wall St investments...
that the government should strip unions of their rights....

...and middle class republicans continue to buy into the small government lie, while the GOP only fight for the 1%.

[cbates]

11:44 AM on 01/17/2012

Mr. Perry if you were a fiscal conservative you would see that you are waisting money on your campaign for the PResidency or better yet the GOP nomination to be the GOP candidate for President. Go home and whitewash your property identification stone.

[madinpahuff]

11:35 AM on 01/17/2012

Is it just me, or is voting ID one issue & immigration a separate issue? What am I missing?? †

[Ramirez]

11:37 AM on 01/17/2012

Yes, but the "big picture" is federal interference in state issues.

[planores]

11:47 AM on 01/17/2012

"Yes, but the "big picture" is federal interferen­ce in state issues."

One needs to ask why the Fed's can intervene in this issue with States such as NC, TX and many other southern States. What has happened in their past that would allow the Fed's to intervene.... any guesses?

[madinpahuff]

11:47 AM on 01/17/2012

I've got that. Since that IS the issue - let's speak plainly about it then. The state's rights issue doesn't need be convoluted and muddled with emotional trigger words like immigration and mandatory voter IDs. †

[sackman]

12:04 PM on 01/17/2012

Your missing the whole point here, What is truly wrong is republican attempts at keeping minoritys from voting, Voter supression laws is imoral.Obama 2012.

[madinpahuff]

12:23 PM on 01/17/2012

I don't feel that's the whole point at all. It may be some of the point, but I don't see it as THE point. †

[msbeal]

11:30 AM on 01/17/2012

I think voter id laws is a good thing. That way when we go to round up all these conservatives we'll know right where to find them. :)

[Ramirez]

11:38 AM on 01/17/2012

You better bring guns. Lots of guns.

[coloradoanimallover]

11:49 AM on 01/17/2012

The standard conservative answer. Shoot those who disagree with you. How very unAmerican of you.

[HippieChick]

12:38 PM on 01/17/2012

Not a surprising answer at all from one with only gunpowder for brains.

[kshadow]

12:16 PM on 01/17/2012

What do you mean by 'round up all these conservatives'? If those words were directed at liberals you'd be having a tantrum. Hypocrites.

[msbeal]

01:27 PM on 01/17/2012

Oh, I forgot, you people don't know what :) means.