Only One KY SOS Candidate Wants You to Vote

And it's not the one who imagines that it's against the law for homeless people to vote.

From the Courier:

Republican Bill Johnson supported requiring people to present photo identification before voting, while Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes denounced it as a “barrier to the ballot box” as the candidates for Kentucky secretary of state met in a debate Monday night.

The rivals also differed on whether Kentucky’s Constitution should be amended to provide automatic restoration of voting rights for felons who have served their sentences. Johnson opposes such a measure. Grimes voiced personal support but said it’s up to state lawmakers to decide whether to put such a measure on the ballot.

SNIP

Grimes countered that Kentucky already is among 29 states requiring voters to produce an ID such as a Social Security card or driver’s license, or to be known by precinct officers.

“We do not have a problem of voter impersonation which would require us to essentially build another barrier to the ballot box,” she said.

Denouncing it in personal terms, Grimes said such a photo ID law would “require my 91-year-old grandmother to go get a government-issued ID to vote at the precinct she’s been voting at for the last 40 years.”

As Media Czech wrote at Barefoot and Progressive back in July:

It appears that there's been a small increase in the number of homeless people registering to vote in Kentucky this year. New Tea Party Boone County Clerk Kenny Brown (who likes to talk about "Barack Hussein Obama", how they're stealing our Ft. Knox gold, and dress up cardboard cutouts of Sarah Palin in his campaign shirt on his FB page) was able to immediately connect the dots, as the Mexican infiltrators at ACORN will now steal our elections and Liberty by using the homeless:

Kentucky election officials have reported an increase in the number of voter registration forms from the homeless, raising concerns among some about potential election fraud.

After the small increase, State Board of Elections Executive Director Sarah Ball Johnson wrote in a memo to county clerks last week that applications should be approved if they have “homeless” or “place to place” listed as addresses.

Boone County Clerk Kenny Brown said Tuesday he fears the policy could lead to vote fraud. He objected to the longstanding procedure in a letter to state election officials.

Naturally, Some Dude Named Bill Johnson will not let the homeless (who may or may not be members of the New Black Panther Party) steal our democracy:

Republican Secretary of State candidate Bill Johnson said he believes the policy violates a state law that requires would-be voters to list their place of residence to ensure that they're entitled to vote in a particular precinct.

“I am sensitive to the plight of the homeless,” Bill Johnson said in a statement. “However, I am equally sensitive to the need for honest elections. If an address cannot be determined, then a person should not be allowed to vote. It's that simple.”

See? It's that simple. No address, no vote. Democracy intact.

By the way, the Kentucky Department of Veteran Affairs estimates that there are approximately 1,000 homeless veterans in Kentucky. Remember that when you hear Bill Johnson play up the military out on the campaign trail over the next 4 months.

David Shankula at Barefoot and Progressive on how Johnson embarrassed himself at the Secretary of State debate:

Bill Johnson explained that homeless people should not be allowed to vote. Because they have no address, all Kentuckians who have fallen on hard times — which is increasingly likely given the policies being pushed by members of Bill Johnson’s own party — should not be allowed to vote.

And if we make exceptions for economically struggling Kentuckians, if we allow poor people to vote, then where will that take us? Bill Johnson has the answer:
What about somebody wealthy for example, who may be afraid? Because their house may be robbed? Or their child may be kidnapped?

That’s a fair comparison. Poor people who’ve lost their homes and want to vote… and very rich people who are being targetted by criminals who have absolutely no other way to locate their address or their child’s school or where they go on vacation without accessing voter rolls.

Just embarrassing.

As Ms. Grimes said in response:

“I have come to believe that his actions and statements are not for a lack of understanding but rather they are an intentional misrepresentation of the law. And that’s wrong for Kentucky. That’s wrong for the people of this state.”

She then went on to explain clearly the law of the state, the very law Bill Johnson willfully misunderstands, and the law he’s supposed to be running to enforce.

Lundergan Grimes is on the "other" side of a intra-party Democratic feud here in Kentucky, and I thought I was going to have to hold my nose to vote for her in November, but after her clear, proud, loud stand in favor of voting rights I'm going to have to vote for her proudly. Shit, I might even have to display her bumper sticker.

Johnson, by the way, proved himself a teabagging shit of the first order by filing a formal complaint against the Secretary of State's Office, claiming that registering homeless people to vote violates the state constitution.

From the Herald:

The Executive Branch Ethics Commission has decided to take no action on a complaint filed by Bill Johnson, Republican candidate for secretary of state, over voter registration of homeless people.

Johnson said Tuesday that John Steffen, executive director of the ethics commission, told him that the panel lacks jurisdiction to consider his complaint against Secretary of State Elaine Walker and the State Board of Elections.

Steffen declined Monday, after the commission’s regular meeting, to comment on the case, saying the panel can only comment on a case when it acts on it.

Johnson contended in his complaint filed in August that Walker and the elections board are violating the Kentucky Constitution by allowing people who don’t have addresses to register to vote.

Liberals know the only way repugs can survive electorally is by preventing as many Democratic-leaning people as possible from being able to vote at all. Every voting "reform" repugs propose has as its goal making it impossible for Democrats to vote.