Comments on Advance Indiana™: Voter ID Poster Child Busted

Although these comments are now 3 years old, I fee...

2011-07-08T07:42:05.071-05:00

Although these comments are now 3 years old, I feel compelled to answer Karen's questions about whether a small Indiana newspaper could uncover the Faye Buis-Ewing story on their own. Well, sorry, Karen but they did -- I mean, I did, because I am the author of that story. I didn't see your comments until now though, so I'm telling you how this came about. Two days before it went to the Supreme Court, I was assigned to do a story on the law. So, as any good reporter should do, I decided to read the briefs of both parties before I wrote about it. As I read the League of Women Voters brief, I stumbled at Ms. Ewing's story and knew I had a story no one else did. How did I know that? I lived in Florida for 15 years, that's how. And I knew that you absolutely can NOT get a driver's license, car plates or voter registration without declaring residency there -- which means she couldn't be eligible to vote in Indiana, having declared residency in Florida. The rest is history. I found out about the homestead exemption because I wanted to prove her deception beyond a shadow of a doubt. You can claim a little mix-up, I suppose, with a driver's license, but it's a felony to claim homestead in Florida if you claim it somewhere else -- and there are some very specific things you must do to get that homestead exemption. So once I knew she was claiming homestead in both states, I knew she was a classic criminal -- as she said, lots of "snowbirds" do this. It's just going to take a little time and a few more voter ID laws to catch them. I don't think her intention was to commit voter fraud though. I think her intention was and is tax fraud/evasion.

I thought Wilson's Mom was dead.

2008-01-11T19:20:00.000-05:00

I thought Wilson's Mom was dead.

Do the Dem's have no shame or honesty about them a...

2008-01-11T07:05:00.000-05:00

Do the Dem's have no shame or honesty about them at all?

Get over it. She lived in Florida, she had a Florida Drivers License, she was registered to vote in Florida, she owned property in Florida and was claiming a Florida Property Tax Exemption. Duh, she's a Florida resident and needs to vote there.

So do the Dem's think that if you start driving around and vote in whatever precinct that you happen to land in for the day.

Let's just all follow the candidates around and vote in multiple jurisdictions. Oh wait, the Dem's already do that. Now, I understand the outcry for not wanting photo ID.

Gary, shame on you for wanting to disenfranchise the residents of Crown Hill their voting rights.

Note that she registered in 2002 in Florida but ne...

2008-01-11T05:48:00.000-05:00

Note that she registered in 2002 in Florida but never voted in any Florida election. She only voted in Indiana. If she had voted in both elections, then that would be another matter.

Wrong. The problem is that because she is registered in Florida, this allowed her to get a Florida license with interstate travel rights. This is the same issue that some Purdue student complained about. He declared Indiana his home state, yet was originally from New Jersey. He wanted to keep his New Jersey license, even though he would be violating the law if he continued to drive in this state with that license. He plated his car in Indiana, likely because it was cheaper than New Jersey. Sorry, but we cannot have people who can be registered in two places to vote. Just because one hasn't voted in both places in the past doesn't mean it can't happen.

And people wonder why individuals are afraid to come forward with their stories?

This lady was not disenfranchised. She could easily have voted at home, which is Florida. She choose to play the "it's cheaper in Florida" game by declaring residency there so it would cost less money to plater her vehicles there. She then went and got a full-interstate travel rights Florida driver's license. As soon as she did that, she made her residency here at her Indiana home defunct. Now she wants to complain because she would rather vote at her vacation home instead of her actual home of Florida? Sorry, that doesn't fly. If she wants to vote in Indiana, she needs to be an Indiana resident. However, that would mean a little bit more money when it comes to registering vehicles and such. It would also mean that if she were in debt, the home in Florida _might_ be able to be taken (Florida has some strong laws protecting homes from seizure/liens). What this lady is about is fraud, pure and simple. She made a choice: Florida. She now wants to complain because she can't vote while at the vacation home in Indiana. Typical.

I am glad folks are showing these frauds for who they are. Our state is hurting for money, yet folks like this fly down to Florida, buy what is really a vacation home, claim it as their main residence, then plate their cars so they don't have to help out Indiana where they do most of their driving/living. If anyone really can't get an ID, then all they need to do is come forward. Obviously their background will be checked. Heaven forbid someone doing some checking finds out that this person can somehow get an ID. Wouldn't that be a good thing? If they can't, then the anti-ID folks would have all the proof they want in that one person.

I always love a good dose of irony.This is indeed ...

2008-01-10T21:59:00.000-05:00

I always love a good dose of irony.

This is indeed an excellent example of why we need the voter ID requirement. And fewer faux confused seniors.

Karen said:"...If you want to read about others wh...

2008-01-10T21:37:00.000-05:00

Karen said:
"...If you want to read about others who were actually impacted, then read the brief of the League of Women Voters..."

Well, if there were these people who were indeed disenfranchised, why didn't the plaintiffs raise them during the trial court, or even bring them up in the Supreme Court yesterday?

AR

Gary, I understand and I know you support the Vote...

2008-01-10T21:01:00.000-05:00

Gary, I understand and I know you support the Voter ID Law. But I think you should also ask how this story originated. Does anyone really believe that the local northeast Indiana news operation that "broke" this "story" actually uncovered it on their own? When the people came forward in Georgia in the opposition to Georgia's Voter ID law, a lot of dollars were spent on trying to dig-up dirt on the voters who provided affidavits.

And people wonder why individuals are afraid to come forward with their stories?

Sorry, Karen. This story was just too good to pass...

2008-01-10T20:14:00.000-05:00

Sorry, Karen. This story was just too good to pass up.

Note that she registered in 2002 in Florida but ne...

2008-01-10T20:11:00.000-05:00

Note that she registered in 2002 in Florida but never voted in any Florida election. She only voted in Indiana. If she had voted in both elections, then that would be another matter.

Also, the Voter ID Law would do nothing to prevent someone from registering in all the states, so long as they have an Indiana ID.

No foul here. If you want to read about others who were actually impacted, then read the brief of the League of Women Voters, who provided illustrations of persons impacted by the law. http://www.brennancenter.org/

Notice that Wilson Allen is being VERY QUIET on th...

2008-01-10T19:13:00.000-05:00

Notice that Wilson Allen is being VERY QUIET on this issue?
Hit a little too close to home there, Wilson?

The idea that you can register in two places is no...

2008-01-10T16:48:00.000-05:00

The idea that you can register in two places is not an uncommon belief among seniors, in my experience, anyway. A relative of mine (who shall remain nameless) was registered (as a Republican!) in the Midwest and in Arizona, and when family members figured it out and chastised him, he said "It's fine. I'm only actually voting in one state. I vote in the primary in Iowa and the election in Arizona. There's nothing wrong; I'm not voting twice."

All of the seniors in his senior RV park in Arizona were assured it was "all right" by a college Republican with a clipboard who swung through the park and double-registered them at one fell swoop.

Classic. Everyone's always trying to game the sys...

2008-01-10T14:39:00.000-05:00

Classic. Everyone's always trying to game the system. Especially old people licensing their cars in Florida to avoid excise tax.

Absolutely priceless. This is what the Dems and t...

2008-01-10T14:04:00.000-05:00

Absolutely priceless. This is what the Dems and the ACLU are all about. Smoke and mirrors.

Not to mention that this poor elderly woman can tr...

2008-01-10T13:14:00.000-05:00

Not to mention that this poor elderly woman can travel from Indiana to Florida, but it must be impossible for her to travel to a BMV to get an ID card for voting purposes. Is that not what the argument for the elderly is? I'm not sure what the actual argument is as to why the elderly would be dienfranchised by this law.

So, when is Jen going to comment on either of her ...

2008-01-10T12:58:00.000-05:00

So, when is Jen going to comment on either of her blogs or did the spinning wheel break?

In fact, before arguing before SCOTUS, the Democra...

2008-01-10T11:57:00.000-05:00

In fact, before arguing before SCOTUS, the Democrat Party plaintiff has not introduced evidence of a
single, individual Indiana resident who was unable to vote as a result of SEA 483 or who had his or her right to vote unduly burdened by its requirements.

The Dems should pay for the defense of this frivilous suit, which one judge compared to throwing wet tissue against a wall to see if it would stick!

Please mention that the original frivolous suit co...

2008-01-10T11:52:00.000-05:00

Please mention that the original frivolous suit contained information about (D) BMV worker, Constance Andrews. The suit stated that she did not have proper ID and could not obtain it.....the BMV worker did have ID issued by the BMV. During her deposition, she was also "confused" when confronted with direct evidence of perjury.