86-Year-Old Ohio Veteran Can’t Vote After Government-Issued ID Is Rejected At Poll
By Travis Waldron on Mar 6, 2012 at 6:16 pm
Paul Carroll, an 86-year-old World War II veteran who has lived in the same Ohio town for four decades, was denied a chance to vote in the state’s primary contests today after a poll worker denied his form of identification, a recently-acquired photo ID from the Department of Veterans Affairs. The poll worker rejected the ID because it did not contain an address, as required by Ohio law.
Carroll told the Cleveland Plain Dealer that he got the ID from the VA after his driver’s license expired because he doesn’t drive anymore:
“My beef is that I had to pay a driver to take me up there because I don’t walk so well and have to use this cane and now I can’t even vote,” said Paul Carroll, 86, who has lived in Aurora nearly 40 years, running his own business, Carroll Tire, until 1975.
“I had to stop driving, but I got the photo ID from the Veterans Affairs instead, just a month or so ago. You would think that would count for something. I went to war for this country, but now I can’t vote in this country.”
A local Veterans Affairs employee told the Plain Dealer that the decision not to include the address was likely made at the federal level, and because VA IDs are accepted at any location, “the actual address of a veteran isn’t as critical to us.” Carroll was offered a provisional ballot, but the type was too small for him to read and “I was kind of perturbed by then,” he said.
Republicans across the country have pushed voter ID laws to address a voter fraud “problem” that rarely, if ever, exists. Multiple laws have been challenged in court over claims that they disenfranchise voters, particularly minorities and the elderly. Carroll’s story isn’t altogether unique — Tennessee voter authorities denied a 96-year-old woman a voter ID last year because she didn’t have an original copy of her marriage license.
Ageism isn't just blatant discrimination against the elderly--it's also policies that can be used to disenfranchise the elderly.
There should be large-print provisional ballots.
I don't know if this is still true, but in high school, I learned that older people are more likely to vote than any other age demographic. They are also more likely to vote Republican. The GOP seems to be shooting itself in the foot, tbh.
I personally think it's wrong when anyone is turned away from voting. It's not worse if it's an old person or a veteran.
Edited at 2012-03-09 02:54 pm (UTC)
We can only do everything we can to ensure our fellow citizens are properly registered to vote, and have the proper ID to do so as well. Then, hopefully (pleasepleasePLEASE) after the election, we can get these laws repealed as the waste of time and money that they are.
It reminds me of the old saw about mouse droppings in peanut butter; if we could keep all the mice out of the peanuts, no one could afford the peanut butter. The ALEC crew are legislating to keep all the mice away from the peanuts.