Rep. Green to require photo ID at town halls

[babylonsister]

This seems too logical.


Rep. Green to require photo ID at town halls
By Mike Soraghan
Posted: 08/12/09 11:37 AM


A Texas congressman, worried about disruptions at his town halls, wants to weed out people who want to attend but don't live in his district.

Rep. Gene Green (D-Texas) has announced on his website that he will require attendees to show photo identification to get into his town halls to prove that they're his constituents. He said that he's doing so in response to a "coordinated effort to disrupt our town hall meetings."

"While I regret this restriction, it is necessary for the safety and consideration of our constituents," Green said in a statement on his website. "Those who do not reside in the 29th congressional district should contact their member of Congress to voice any concerns that they may have on issues before Congress."

Green, who says town halls are one of his "favorite ways to communicate with constituents," held four town halls earlier this month. He is now out of the country, but he has four more scheduled from Aug. 18 to Aug. 21.

Green spokeswoman Brenda Arredondo said that sign-in sheets from previous town halls have shown that as many as eight in 10 were not from Green's Houston-area district. Attendees were asked to list their addresses, and many listed addresses in neighboring districts.

more...

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/rep.-green-to-require-photo-id-at-town-halls-2009-08-12.html

[Eric J in MN]

1. Some DUers have been advocating that for a while...

...only letting people in the district into a townhall.

I don't want that as a permanent policy, but it makes sense this summer amid planned disruptions.

[SoCalDem]

8. Me me me me me ..

This is the BEST way to have town halls anyway.. Why waste time filling the audience with "outsiders" anyway.

Most congresspeople don't even accept e-mails from out-of-district people anyway, so why fill up an auditorium with bused-in agitators?

Announce where the free tickets are available, make people sign up for them, show ID, and then cross check at the door..

If the visiting freakshow wants to parade around outside, let 'em.

[loyalkydem]

2. Good

Very good. Whose next

[tabbycat31]

3. makes sense

I'm prepared to show mine at the town hall I'm going to on 8/25

[Justitia]

4. Very Good Idea! Someone at the door needs to check ID against the district map. -eom

[NNN0LHI]

5. Reel 'em in

[Greyskye]

6. Any bets on what the wingnut response will be?

I can't even begin to imagine what kind of half-assed reasons they'll pull out of their collective nether regions to rail against this with.

And they will.

[babylonsister]

7. Who cares? I think it's a reasonable request. If he doesn't

represent them, what would be their beef, other than manufactured crap that can be ignored?

[Greyskye]

9. Oh, it's absolutely reasonable.

That's what makes it a certainty to me that the wingnut fringe will twist themselves into pretzels trying to rationalize how this somehow equates to Nazi Germany. :eyes:

[krispos42]

28. "How DARE you do what we've been doing!"

"You Communo-Fascists!!!!"


Yeah, because Communism and Facsism are SOOOO close together in the political spectrum...

[LiberalFighter]

10. It won't be that easy to determine whether a voter lives in their district

just by showing photo id.

Here in Indiana for example a person with an Elkhart address would be in the 2nd or 3rd district while a Fort Wayne resident would be in the 3rd or 6th district.

[Critters2]

12. The solution would be to show voter cards, which identify your district,

and photo id to prove it really is your voter card.

But this will probably scare away the astroturfers.

[dragonlady]

16. Be careful with demanding a photo ID

It would just give them more ammunition when they want to require photo ID for voting, which is so much more important than attending a meeting. You know, the old "you need an ID to rent a movie" stuff. We have been fighting this for a while, and it's only because of our governor's veto pen that the GOP-controlled legislature didn't pass it.

[Yupster]

29. That's what I was thinking

Is this congressman going to say that he needs to see a photo ID for a voter to listen to him, but he doesn't think a photo ID should be required for a voter to vote for him?

That sounds like a tough argument to make.

[Eric J in MN]

13. They should have software which says what district an address is in.

People in Minnesota can look up a district online by entering an address at the MN Secretary of State website.

[LynneSin]

19. I don't think that's the issue they are worried about

If they happen to get a few people who are on the border, with the way these congressional districts are designed that could happen. I think they want to weed out the obvious, like if someone was being shipped in from another part of the state not in the district or for that matter, from out of state.

Now I know when I moved, I didn't have my IDs adjusted until about 3 months later - a backup plan would be to have a local utility bill. (Then again I live in DE - we only have one representative).

[Paladin]

11. Good Move, Congressman. (n/t)

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

14. both sides ought to say this is a good idea

I've heard rwingers saying that all the problems are coming from liberals coming in from other districts. By having id check, that can't happen.

My congresscritter is having his forum the 24th, and I get to go! I'll be sure to take along my driver's license just in case.

[proud2BlibKansan]

15. What difference is that going to make?

There are no gun toting crazies living in his district?

[Critters2]

18. There will be fewer than if the astroturfers are allowed in.

I think this will make a huge difference. It makes the town hall what it's really intended to be--an opportunity for a Congressman to meet with his constituents.

[babylonsister]

21. No, but it will keep a lot of the crazies out. Per the article,

8 out of 10 at his last town hall were not from his district. Cuts out some of the riff-raff.

[proud2BlibKansan]

23. I guess we have so many riff raff here

that restricting these events to residents wouldn't make that much difference.

[LynneSin]

17. This is just common sense

She only needs to answer to those who voted her into office. Too many of these people showing up to town halls are assholes shipped in by these organizations designed to disrupt these Town Hall meetings.

[Xzanther]

20. I wonder..

If I live in that district..

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

22. easy enough to find out

google "Write my Representative" and you'll find a form where you put in your zip code. Then the form sets to the correct Representative.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

24. Where does he stand on producing a drivers license to vote?

[TexasObserver]

25. Recommend

[Bill Bored]

26. Makes sense, but would a utility bill be enough?

If a photo ID were a requirement for voting, we would be very upset about it. So how can we justify it for attending a meeting run by an elected official? Lots of folks don't have photo IDs handy. Should they be excluded? I realize there are security concerns, but the same could be argued when it comes to elections, and we don't want photo IDs for them.

[Mariana]

27. We have no constitutional right to attend such meetings.

They're not required to hold these meetings at all, so surely if they do choose to hold them, they may set the conditions for attendence.

They ARE required to stand for election, and to allow every eligible voter to cast a ballot. That's the difference.