How easy it is to vote in Canada: An instructive lesson for the United States

[CitizenVectron]

With our federal election two weeks away, I just received my voter info card in the mail and wanted to post about it, and how the system should be used as a model for Democrats in the US to reform at the state level.

 

Voter Registration:

• Everyone who has voted in the past is automatically registered to vote again. No one is purged from the rolls
• Almost all who file taxes are also automatically registered to vote. If you move, this info is automatically known through various government agencies
• You do not need to be registered to vote, it simply makes it easier
• Everyone gets a card in the mail with their polling station and all documents they need

 

Voting Days:

• You can vote at your polling station on election day
• You can vote over the 4-day early voting period (Oct 11-14), which falls over the Thanksgiving long weekend, ensuring that most people are off work to make it easier
• You can vote any other day at an Elections Canada office anywhere in the country

 

Voting Requirements:

• All citizens 18 or older can vote, no restrictions
• No minimum-residency requirement in a riding, as long as you are a Canadian citizen
• You can vote with a piece of photo ID, or two pieces of non-photo ID (as long as one shows your address)
• You can vote without any of this if someone else in your riding vouches for you and they have the proper ID

 

It's so easy to vote, and they really encourage it. Yes this is a humble brag post, but I never appreciated how easy it was in the past until I've paid attention to the US shenanigans over the last few years.

 

[Jason]

smells like socialism

[Dodger]

So even in Canada you need some sort of ID to vote, or have to show up with someone who has ID to vote. So how do your too poor to get ID people vote?

[b_m_b_m_b_m]

1 minute ago, Dodger said:

So even in Canada you need some sort of ID to vote, or have to show up with someone who has ID to vote. So how do your too poor to get ID people vote?

Their system is how I voted in Ohio in 2008. I just needed a utility bill in my name of my current address.

[b_m_b_m_b_m]

And all this is great if the basic tenents of your country aren't based upon white supremacy/black subjugation 

[Dodger]

3 minutes ago, b_m_b_m_b_m said:

Their system is how I voted in Ohio in 2008. I just needed a utility bill in my name of my current address.

In CA all I had to do was show up and say hi I’m Dodger and live at 123 main st and I got to vote which always kind of struck me as being a little too lax.

 

[chakoo]

To even show how easy voting can be, since I live in a very dense area, my polling place is in the lobby of my condo, so It takes less than 3 mins to vote. 

 

5 minutes ago, Dodger said:

So even in Canada you need some sort of ID to vote, or have to show up with someone who has ID to vote. So how do your too poor to get ID people vote?

As mention you can use utility bill if you don't have a drivers license. Or you could also go get a free provincial id anytime throughout the year that doesn't take long to go do (like sub 30 mins depending on location) and shows up in about a week. 

[Dodger]

11 minutes ago, chakoo said:

To even show how easy voting can be, since I live in a very dense area, my polling place is in the lobby of my condo, so It takes less than 3 mins to vote. 

 

As mention you can use utility bill if you don't have a drivers license. Or you could also go get a free provincial id anytime throughout the year that doesn't take long to go do (like sub 30 mins depending on location) and shows up in about a week. 

 

Right, but liberals have consistently argued that voter ID is racist voter surpression even if we make it free. 

[b_m_b_m_b_m]

27 minutes ago, Dodger said:

In CA all I had to do was show up and say hi I’m Dodger and live at 123 main st and I got to vote which always kind of struck me as being a little too lax.

 

Do you have to register? I know in North Dakota you don't even have to do that

[Jason]

9 minutes ago, Dodger said:

 

Right, but liberals have consistently argued that voter ID is racist voter surpression even if we make it free. 

 

Probably because voter ID laws in the US are typically paired with shit like closing down DMVs in black areas. 

 

Try harder. 

[b_m_b_m_b_m]

14 minutes ago, Dodger said:

 

Right, but liberals have consistently argued that voter ID is racist voter surpression even if we make it free. 

When Wisconsin under Scott Walker instituted voter ID laws, they also closed down DMV locations near dense concentrations of black citizens, and cut back hours of when the DMVs are open.

 

There was a republican strategist who worked with the NC legislature to find out what IDs African Americans and college students are most likely to use and those they don't have and excluded the ones the are most likely to use, and included those that they are least likely to have.

That's the racist shit about it.

 

It's not a photo ID per se that is opposed. It's the ID plus limiting the types of ID, limiting when/where you can get ID, eliminating and moving polling locations at the last minute, everything, all of the above, that is used to depress turnout specifically and targetly among the African American community.

[CastlevaniaNut18]

19 minutes ago, Dodger said:

 

Right, but liberals have consistently argued that voter ID is racist voter surpression even if we make it free. 

Look, I'm trying to be nicer to you as of late, but come the fuck on, dude.

[Uaarkson]

I’ll do it for ya Cnut. Dodger is a moron 

[CitizenVectron]

1 hour ago, Dodger said:

So even in Canada you need some sort of ID to vote, or have to show up with someone who has ID to vote. So how do your too poor to get ID people vote?

 

A power bill and a health card (which everyone has) is enough. You don't need a paid ID at all. In Canada there are universal forms of ID, unlike in the US.

[Jason]

1 minute ago, CitizenVectron said:

 

A power bill and a health card (which everyone has) is enough. You don't need a paid ID at all.

 

5 hours ago, Jason said:

smells like socialism

 

[Keyser_Soze]

1 hour ago, Dodger said:

In CA all I had to do was show up and say hi I’m Dodger and live at 123 main st and I got to vote which always kind of struck me as being a little too lax.

 

 

Yeah but they record it in a book you have to sign so you can only claim to be someone once.

[Joe]

39 minutes ago, b_m_b_m_b_m said:

When Wisconsin under Scott Walker instituted voter ID laws, they also closed down DMV locations near dense concentrations of black citizens, and cut back hours of when the DMVs are open.

 

There was a republican strategist who worked with the NC legislature to find out what IDs African Americans and college students are most likely to use and those they don't have and excluded the ones the are most likely to use, and included those that they are least likely to have.

That's the racist shit about it.

 

It's not a photo ID per se that is opposed. It's the ID plus limiting the types of ID, limiting when/where you can get ID, eliminating and moving polling locations at the last minute, everything, all of the above, that is used to depress turnout specifically and targetly among the African American community.

 

@Dodger your response?

[mclumber1]

No civil right should have a fee or tax associated with it.  Even postage for mail in ballots should be free.  

[CitizenVectron]

Yeah if you gave all Americans a free ID that they got at birth and could replace easily, then there wouldn't be an issue using it for elections.

[b_m_b_m_b_m]

2 minutes ago, CitizenVectron said:

Yeah if you gave all Americans a free ID that they got at birth and could replace easily, then there wouldn't be an issue using it for elections.

The transition would be rough on older folks, like those who don't have a birth certificate, and it would be used to harass Hispanic people. Papers, please.

 

It's probably the best solution though. Pair it up with M4A like in Canada and their health cards.

[CitizenVectron]

Just now, b_m_b_m_b_m said:

The transition would be rough, and it would be used to harass Hispanic people. Papers, please.

 

True, Canada has the advantage in culture in terms of effective, less-partisan government services, etc.

[AbsolutSurgen]

How do they demonstrate that you are eligible to vote?  (i.e. are you a Canadian citizen?)

[Dodger]

2 hours ago, Jose said:

 

@Dodger your response?

So if the ID were free, or you could use a utility bill or I guess your social security card (something I would assume nearly every one has for free in America) there wouldn’t be an issue? The issue is only when they close dmvs or close polling stations?  Because when voter id threads come up someone always mentions what if we made the Id free and no one ends up supporting it. 
 

 

[Littleronin]

4 hours ago, Dodger said:

So if the ID were free, or you could use a utility bill or I guess your social security card (something I would assume nearly every one has for free in America) there wouldn’t be an issue? The issue is only when they close dmvs or close polling stations?  Because when voter id threads come up someone always mentions what if we made the Id free and no one ends up supporting it. 
 

 

Except that there are government entities that don't recognize a social security card as a valid form of ID. I remember when we moved to the current town we live in we needed 2 forms of ID to get a PO Box (our town doesn't have street delivery and everyone needs to get a PO Box). We thought that we could use our driver's license and social security card to get it. Was told by the post office that were not a valid form of identification and we would need a bill of some sort or birth certificate proving our ID along with our driver's license.  

[Anathema-]

Some day dodger will learn that the shit the gop says isn't in good faith. Yesterday was not that day.

[Kal-El814]

8 hours ago, Dodger said:

So if the ID were free, or you could use a utility bill or I guess your social security card (something I would assume nearly every one has for free in America) there wouldn’t be an issue? The issue is only when they close dmvs or close polling stations?  Because when voter id threads come up someone always mentions what if we made the Id free and no one ends up supporting it. 

Republicans say openly that voter ID laws help them win elections. There’s no conspiracy here, they’re transparent about their motives and logic. 

[Guest]

Voter ID laws “fix” a problem that doesn’t exist. There simply aren’t mass efforts to change election outcomes via fraudulent in person voting because it’s incredibly inefficient. Voter ID laws stop significantly more legitimate votes from being cast than will ever stop illegitimate votes.

[Anathema-]

You can even have "problems" checking I.D. that discourage people from voting in a direct way and also indirectly by making the wait onerous. All for people with valid I.D.!

[osxmatt]