84 and no chance to vote, the Ruthelle Frank Story!

I finally got all the pieces together for the following story about Ruthelle Frank, the 84 year who couldn't get a voter ID. Her difficulty going through the process is now part of the ACLU's constitutional challenge to the Wisconsin law.

I know, how many times have read about these voter ID nightmares and wondered why someone didn't use the case in a court challenge. Well, wonder no more.

I especially liked Keith Olbermann's well chosen words for Gov. Scott Walker as the worst person in the world.



Here's a great 4 minute piece from the ACLU about the Democratic legislators objections to passing the law, and Ruthelle's attempts to just vote:

ACLU: Ruthelle Frank, a resident of Brokaw, Wisconsin since her birth in 1927, has none of the accepted forms of photo ID under Wisconsin’s photo ID law which goes into effect at the February primary election. In order to get a state ID card, she needs to prove citizenship, but since she was born at home, she has never had a birth certificate. The state Register of Deeds, however, does have a record of her birth and can produce a birth certificate at a $20 cost. There’s one problem though — her maiden name (Wedepohl) is misspelled in the record. That record can only be amended by legal proceeding, and the combined fees will run Ruthelle potentially upwards of $200. The state will not waive any of these fees, and under the new law, if she cannot obtain a state ID card, Ruthelle will be sent away from the polls.

At age 84, Ruthelle is now serving as the lead plaintiff in the ACLU’s constitutional challenge to Wisconsin’s photo ID law. She’s fighting back because she believes no person should have to pay a cent or pass a bureaucracy-navigation test in order to vote. The U.S. Constitution agrees with her.