CNBC host Jim Cramer tweeted earlier today that his father, a Pennsylvania resident, would not have been allowed to vote as a result of the new voter ID laws in Pennsylvania.
I have a problem. My dad, a vet, won't be allowed to vote in Pa. because he does not drive, he is elderly, and can't prove his citizenship.
— Jim Cramer (@jimcramer) September 11, 2012
Cramer's father would have been one of 750,000 registered votes in Pennsylvania who do not have photo identification cards from the Department of Transportation, taking away their voting rights on November 6. But thanks to his son, the new voter ID law will allegedly no longer prevent Mr. Cramer from voting. Pennsylvania's Department of Transportation saw Jim Cramer's tweet and promptly contacted him that that would make sure his father can vote.
Seven hours later, the Mad Money host sent out a series of tweets addressing the issue.
PennDot read my Tweet and came directly to the rescue of Pop and did so in a terrific way so he can vote.. Thank you Penndot!
— Jim Cramer (@jimcramer) September 11, 2012
When my dad and i talked about this we had no idea how to turn and he LOVES the right to vote. I praise Twitter for making things right...
— Jim Cramer (@jimcramer) September 11, 2012
Hey look, Pop's 90. He went twice to Motor Vehicles by bus. He waited and waited. He could not wait more. But it has been solved. Thanks 2 u
— Jim Cramer (@jimcramer) September 11, 2012
Although Jim Cramer's father has been assured that he will be allowed to vote, what about the roughly 749,999 others who will have trouble voting under this law? It's expected to impact elderly voters and students the most.
All eyes are on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court this week as the hearing on the constitutionality of the state's voter ID law begins on Thursday.
The law is also being investigated by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division to determine whether Pennsylvania's voter ID law is discriminatory under the Voting Rights Act. With just 56 days to go until the election, voters in the state are scrambling to get the identification they need for November.
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Hey Jim Crammer--Booyah for your Dad. Now go to work to assure other 'dads' can enjoy their right to vote too. Surely anyone that has voted regularly for years shouldn't have to show a photo ID, especially since no one can point to any example of in-person-voter fraud!!
Whose interpretation is it that Pop Cramer couldn't prove his citizenship? And how isw it thqt a man as intelligent as Jim Cramer is couldn't manage to come on with a solution to the issue of his father's not having a proper ID all thes4e years.
I don't believe the facts of this piece as the are layed out one bit. Cramer is an in the tank for Obama guy, has been from jump street in 2008, and is simply using his notoriety to push the anti-voter ID Democrat Party Agenda.
Keith...Your problem is what? That Cramer supports Obama over the guy you prefer? What does that have to do with a Bogus non existing Voter Fraud claim made by people trying to block a segment of American Voters, that may vote for the guy YOU don't want to win? If enough decision makers determine that a photo ID be required to vote, then have that new law take effect in two years. It's much too late now to require it take effect for this election cycle!
Keith:
Why is it that you just know someone is lying? What super power do you possess? Why don't you use it for good and go after the Romney/Ryan folk for there provably false statements?
I'm not calling Pop Cramer or Jim Cramer liars, but I do believe the author of this piece of fluff, one Clare Kim, has fudged the facts to sensationalize the issues, abbynmac. To date, the Pennsylvania Courts have found there are no hardships in obtaining approved voter photo IDS, and the issue is now headed on appeal to the State Supreme Court. Likewise, the Supreme Court of the United States has found that these issues are appropriate for regulation by state legislatures as long as safeguards against discrimination are in place. So far, the courts have found that the legilature has the safeguards in place, including the ability to vote by provisional ballot, if no acceptable photo ID has been obtained after efforts to do so. Instead of detailing that information, the author provides us only in conclusion that the US Attorney General's office is investigating whether or not violations of the voting rights law will be underway due to this legislation. Funny that, as this is the same Attorney General that refused to allow an instigation and charges to be brought against Black Panther members who stood outside Philadelphia polling places swinging pick ax handles in 2008, and chanting as white voters approached "A black man is going to be elected President tonight" in clear and videotaped voter intimidation manner.
But instead we get the usual MSNBC slant on the story, which is pro Obama, pro Democrat Party all the way.
Grandpa, what's your obsession with MSNBC anyway? I mean you keep referring to it as representing a minority point of view...
Why then, would you bother?
Anyway, Abbynmac (I like that, rhymes with Cabbie 'n Mac), we think it's either the voices in his head that tell him this stuff or the radio programs he receives via his tinfoil hat....
Haven't you seen their ratings, Cab Driver? And if you can refute anything I said, lets see you attempt it at least. As usual, you spend a lot of time and effort simply running your mouth, and end with an insult, and go about your business with the delusion that you somehow countered my arguments. It's an old game with you fool.
Hey Abbynmac, please learn proper English -- you mean "their", not "there". Sort of detracts from your arguments when you don't know the proper word to use. Love to see specifics of the "provably false statements" you mention. Tell us what they are so we may be enlightened by you're wisdom -- oh, darn it, I made a boo-boo!!
I guess I'm "old-fashioned", but I learned as a child that voting was a citizen's responsibility. My folks took me and my sisters with them whenever they voted....and they never missed an election. This is simple "civics"! How on earth did we get to a time when one political party thinks it's okay to game the system and depress people's right (and responsibility) to vote. The Republicans should be ashamed of their actions.
I've said for a long time that the Republicans behave like "middle school mean girls".....they're bullies!
In a prior very tight election in 1960, the Democrats stole the election by spreading the walking around money throught out the skid row areas of Chicago, Illinois to get felons, non citizen immigrants, and underage individuals to cast their votes, a typical Chicago boss machine tactic. And in Texas, the counties throughout the state voted the graveyards. Hence, by closely taking the vote in Illinois and Texas, Kennedy/Johnson won the very close 1960 election.
We all knew this election was going to be squeaker, even before Mitt Romney secured the nomintion of his party. And the latest information from the Wasington Post/ABC post national conventions poll of LIKELY voters results that show the two candidates in a statistical dead heat (Obama 49%, romney 48%) assures us that will be the case, especially with the coninued bad news on the state of the economy and the unemployment rate, and the national debt levels announced last week. There will be no margin of error for the invalid votes in this election, that is being assured, as is the protection of those who must now obtain the necessary approved photo IDs in the next two months, or content themselves with a provisional ballot only on election day.
You said it's a citizen's responsibility to vote. I agree. It's also a citizen's responsibility to abide by legal voting requirements. I've been voting for over 50 years and have always been required to show ID at the polling station to prove I'm the person I say I am. No problem, and it shouldn't be for anyone else, unless they have assumed another name to evade some unsavory aspect of their past. Ran into a lot of such people in Colorado and Alaska.
This is in reply to Keith...Keith. you site speculative voter fraud claims from the 1960 Presidential Election. We've all heard rumors, but have any of us actually seen proof? I haven't, have you? If you have, would you please cite your source. That would tend to give weight to what you are trying to argue here. If your true concern is to prevent "Voter Fraud", rather than suggest something that might have happened over 50 years ago, wouldn't a better example be Florida in 2000?
In NJ nursing home residents are voters. It is the law that the staff (such as myself), make sure that their votes are collected and submitted appropriately before the day of voting. How does this work in PA and how will the thousands of residents living in assisted living and care facilities have the right to vote -- I assume the facilities will not be required to take them to the Department of Transportation or the Motor Vehicle Departments, get their 80 year old birth certificates, etc?
We are well aware of the Republican efforts (legislative and otherwise) to suppress voting of Democrat-leaning American citizens. But, what about the seemingly very real possibility of Republican operatives stealing votes by rigging (hacking) the machines which tally and record votes that are cast ? Suspicion of vote rigging in the swing state of Ohio surfaced after the 2004 presidential election where Bush only narrowly edged out Kerry there. There was ample evidence to support this suspicion, yet after the "untimely" death of the owner of the company that supplied the voting machines, the whole issue seems to have died with him. Or has it ?
Has anyone sought to bring this vote-rigging question to light ? Or is it just being dismissed as another outrageous conspiracy theory ??
can we stop using the black panther incident as a comparison. it was two guys in front of one polling place in philadelphia. and they were there ensuring that people weren't kept from voting. they were not there preventing people from voting. this new law will keep thousands and thousands from voting in thousands and thousands of voting places. and give me a break that it's not a hardship to get an id. my husband was born in germany because his father was in the us army and we almost had to postpone our wedding because he had trouble getting an id with a photo for the wedding license.
What if Obama Campaign starts Voter Registration at colleges or universities that support Obama so people can get a Free College ID if enrolled in 1 free class? Now they can vote!