26 Oct 2012 Obama Endures Modern-Day Poll Tax, Emerges Unscathed

Voting booths at Hermosa Beach City Hall during California Primary

That wasn’t so hard, was it?

Taking advantage of early voting, President Barack Obama cast his general election ballot yesterday in Chicago.  He did not reveal who he voted for.

Before the President received his ballot, he had to show the election judge valid ID to prove he was who he said he was.  Just like everyone else.

Under Illinois law, anyone voting early must present photo ID such as a driver’s license, state-issued ID or passport.  In Obama’s case, he used his license.

Rather than screaming racism and ordering his Attorney General to sue the Land of Lincoln for disfranchising the poor, old, young and minorities, Obama just cracked a joke.  “I’m just glad I renewed my driver’s license,” he said.

Project 21 member Demetrius Minor gives the President due credit for not trying to challenge this easy, commonsense practice that protects his vote from being stolen by those who would commit identity fraud by voting in someone else’s name and cancelling out Obama’s vote.

Demetrius said:

It’s totally appropriate and imperative that voter ID laws are enforced to protect the voting process.  It is highly encouraging to see the President act accordingly and without complaining about the mythological voter suppression several members of his administration claims this protection might cause.

Surely, if the most powerful man in the United States is required to show identification, others should be as well.

It’s not, however, an attitude that Obama has consistently shown toward protection voters.  It’s not even the attitude he held the previous day.  On “The Tonight Show” on Wednesday night, in front of a national audience, Obama proclaimed: “We should be thinking about ways to make it easier for folks to vote.”

But, when Obama was before an election judge and it was time to walk the walk, he seems to have lost his bravado.  Good for him — he followed the rule of law.

Project 21 co-chairman Cherylyn Harley LeBon hopes that the ease with which Obama did his civic duty taught him how a request for valid ID isn’t all that onerous.  Cherylyn said:

The President voted early and presented his driver’s license.  It did not appear to be a burden.  Apparently, he even had the good sense to renew his driver’s license.

Why would this be difficult or burdensome for any other American?  We present photo ID for a litany of reasons in our everyday lives.  Requiring photo ID at the polls is one of the best ways to ensure integrity and fairness in our nation’s elections.

Considering the fervent campaign against voter ID being waged by the Obama Administration over the past year, Project 21 member Derryck Green thinks Obama and his supporters should be more contrite in retrospect of the President’s polling place experience.

Derryck said:

The hypocrisy of preventing voter fraud is once again exposed as a sham.

President Obama and his administration spent a significant amount of time attempting to thwart the passage and implementation of state-level voter ID laws.  His attorney general, Eric Holder, and lapdogs such as Al Sharpton and Debbie Wasserman Schultz even say that requiring a registered voter to provide a government-issued ID disfranchises minority voters — specifically blacks.  They say they consider ID laws a return of poll taxes and Jim Crow laws.

Yet, when President Obama took advantage of the opportunity to vote early, he easily provided the identification required by Illinois state law.  The President knew the law and abided by it, even calling the entire process “convenient.”

Imagine that — early voting which requires an ID, being called convenient by none other than the President!
According to press reports, the President apparently didn’t complain about feeling unfairly subjected to Jim Crow laws or being a victim of poll taxes.  There was also no mention of the President’s feelings of disfranchisement.  He did joke about the lack of gray hair in his ID photo.  Knowing Al Sharpton, the gray hair will be attributed to racism.