McHenry County Blog

A press release from Joe Walsh:

Rep. Walsh: Stop Voter Fraud

Introduces bill requiring photo-ID at the polls

WASHINGTON- Today Congressman Joe Walsh (IL-8) introduced the Federal Elections Integrity Act, which requires voters to present a government-issued photo ID to vote in federal elections. Currently Illinois and 33 other states do not require a photo ID on Election Day.

“Current federal law requires those voting in federal elections to be American citizens,” said Walsh.

“This long overdue bill simply enforces that requirement and will be a huge step towards combating voter fraud in this country.”

Congress passed the REAL ID Act in 2005 that required states to make driver’s licenses and other state-issued ID cards contingent upon citizenship and visa status.

Moreover, the bipartisan Commission on Federal Election Reform also advocated for photo ID requirements when voting.

“Voter fraud in this country is a real issue.

“We have seen plenty of examples of people lying about who they are, and convicted felons, dead people, and illegal immigrants voting.

“This bill is just common sense.

“The American people understand that it makes no sense that a photo ID is required to get a library card or board an airplane, but not required to do something as sacred as voting.”

Following the introduction of the Federal Elections Integrity Act, Walsh will work with Republicans and Democrats to push for swift action on the bill.

Highlights of the Federal Elections Integrity Act:

• State or election officials are forbidden from providing a ballot to a person voting in person unless they can verify their identity through a current government-issued photo ID.
• If the voter does not have an ID at the time the ballot is requested, they will be issued a provisional ballot in which they will need to provide the required ID within 48 hours.
• Those voting by absentee ballot must submit a copy of the required ID. This rules exempts overseas military voters.
• Bill takes effect in 2013 and will be in place for the November 2014 elections.

I’ve written previously that McHenry County will gain congressional clout because those of us who live in Algonquin Township will be represented by U.S. Representative Peter Roskam, assuming no court challenge is successful.

Recently I’ve been thinking how McHenry County has four state representative districts, one in whole and three in parts.

What Mike Madigan’s staff would probably consider the power center for the Republican Party in McHenry County, Crystal Lake, was split four ways. Jack Franks’ continues to have a small portion of northwestern Crystal Lake. The other three districts meet in the middle of Crystal Lake.

With 308,760 people counted by U.S. Census takers, McHenry County deserves almost three full state rep. districts.

Mike Madigan gave Jack Franks one of them.

A vacant district running north from the Crystal Lake Country Club to Antioch is clearly dominated by McHenry County voters.

Mike Tryon got 67% (percentage of GOP primary votes in McHenry County) of one that goes deeply into Kane County.

And Mark Beaubien’s 52nd district contains a chunk of Crystal Lake, Algonquin, Cary and Fox River Grove.

Obviously Beaubien did not live in McHenry County. His home was in southwestern Lake County. No one doubted that he win re-election.

But now his seat is unoccupied.

I think it is likely that McHenry County will end up with four resident state representatives.

Madigan could have arranged for us to have three, but his map has set the stage for us to get four.

Names are surfacing for the 52nd District.

While I have heard several from McHenry County, it is my opinion that McHenry County Board member Donna Kurtz is most likely to be able to win the primary election.

As I have mentioned previously, she is a social liberal. She was one of very few county board members endorsed by Personal PAC.

From personal experience, I know how effective Personal PAC can be. It took the pro-abortion group three elections to defeat me, but defeat me they did.  With Rosemary Kurtz.

If Donna Kurtz runs and she is the only pro-choice candidate, I would be willing to give odds that she would beat a multi-candidate group of conservative, pro-life candidates.

And, that’s what I think will happen.

People who want to be candidates are not shrinking violets.

They think they can win, regardless of what dispassionate outsiders might discern.  And candidates from the Barrington area will be able to raise sufficient money to hire campaign consultants who, wanting a pay check, will convince them they can win.

“Look at Joe Walsh,” they will tell prospective clients.  “He’s pro-life.”

There was only one pro-choice candidate in that race, however.  He was not well-financed.

The difference is that Personal PAC already had a candidate for Congress in the 8th District.

Melissa Bean.

So, the political action committee did not get involved in the GOP primary election in the 8th congressional district.

From the above mailing against State Senator Dan Duffy, you can see that Personal PAC has no compunction about lying.  The favored candidate’s finger prints won’t be on such pieces.

Independent expenditures, don’t you know.

Mailers like this come at the last minute, of course.

Personal PAC will also pay a calling center to identify early on every woman who is willing to say she is “pro-choice” and use that data base to drive those voters to the polls, using the kind of vicious campaign that Duffy saw two years ago. (Duffy won, but it was a one-on-one race, not a one-on-five race.)

Pro-lifers have not been able to marshal the money for a similar voter identification effort for even one state rep. district in Illinois.

There is no pro-life counterbalance to Personal PAC.

 

It’s not that Personal PAC cannot be beaten.

Tom Morrison beat one of their favorites–Suzi Bassi–in the Palatine are last spring. As an incumbent, she didn’t have the advantage of having more than conservative opponent to split the vote.

Kurtz will.

No one can convince me that the 52rd district is not at least 25%, maybe 30%, pro-choice. Maybe more.

Divide 100% by 6 candidates and you tell me what percentage is required to win.

So, what’s this got to do with McHenry County.

Just an excuse to offer this observation:

Voter turnout this year will be so low that any candidate can still win.

It would surprise me not at all if voter turnout is well below 20% of the registered voters.

In such a contest, any candidate can win.

All one has to do is get more of your supporters to the polls than the opponent or opponents.

You do that by following Abraham Lincoln’s advice to identify your supporters and get them to the polls.

Easy to say.

Not easy to do.

Most candidates, including myself in times past, are not aggressive enough in encouraging, repeatedly encouraging their supporters to vote.

We are now in the early voting stage of the election. That’s how the Democrats managed to get a majority for Barack Obama in McHenry County in 2008.

No reason why local candidates can do the same.

Way back in Abe Lincoln’s time, his supporters were urged to identify their supporters and make sure they get to the polls.

That took a lot of effort back then, and still does.

So much effort that local politicians rarely make the effort.

The new variation on that theme is automated telephone calls.

I have a note among my story ideas that says gubernatorial candidate Kirk Dillard made voter ID calls.

Presumably on election day another call will be made to urge those who identified themselves as Dillard supporters to get on down to the polls be they close at 7.

I think I got one from lieutenant governor candidate Jason Plummer, too.

If there is a trick in the political book that Plummer has not tried, I can’t identify it.

And, remember that call from the heretofore unknown “Illinois Election Research?”

A friend remembers that there were only four names on the list of those running for governor and observes how strange it was Dan Proft, who almost certainly will not be among the top four finishers, was listed second.

The conclusion my friend reached was that the poll was an attempt to identify Proft supporters for some future purpose.