“It was like a Nazi interrogation...."

[babylonsister]

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/texas-woman-threatened-jail-after-applying-voter-id?adbid=758025077627080&adbpl=fb&adbpr=273864989376427&cid=sm_m_main_1_20141024_34396057

Texas woman threatened with jail after applying for voter ID
10/24/14 04:43 PM—Updated 10/24/14 06:14 PM
By Zachary Roth

An Austin, Texas woman told msnbc she was threatened with jail time for having an out-of-state driver’s license when she went to apply for a voter identification card so she could vote under the state’s controversial ID law. She said she was so intimidated she left without getting the ID she needed — and which she’d been trying to get for a year.

Lynne Messinger’s account highlights the obstacles that some Texans face as they try to obtain a voter ID — despite the state’s assurances that getting one doesn’t pose a burden.

Messinger, 62 and a musician, said she brought her birth certificate to a Department of Public Safety (DPS) office in south Austin Thursday in an effort to get a voter ID. She needs one because Texas’s strict ID law doesn’t accept out-of-state driver’s licenses.

snip//

“It was like a Nazi interrogation about how I can't be driving with a California ID,” Messinger said. “I was completely intimidated and freaked out.”

“I’m from New York originally, and talking to policemen was not like a big deal to me,” she added. “This was scary as hell. There was nothing civil about the way he was talking to me.”


snip//

As for Messinger, she said though she might not vote this year, she’s not taking it sitting down. “I will do everything it takes to do something about what’s going on here, because this is crazy,” she said. “I’m 62 years old. I’ve been voting for a long time, and this is just bullshit.”




*An earlier version of this story stated that it was not illegal to drive in Texas with a California driver’s license. In fact, it is illegal to drive in Texas on another state’s driver license 90 days after moving into the state.

[Yo_Mama]

1. Okay, but she's driving illegally or she lives in CA and wants to vote in Texas

Sorry, her bad. If she qualifies for a CA license, then she should be voting in CA. If she's driving illegally in Texas, then why doesn't she get a Texas driver license?

[babylonsister]

3. I imagine there was a way for the DPS

to treat her civilly; is that no longer to be expected? How low we have sunk.

[Yo_Mama]

4. I wouldn't trust her account

The woman seems a bit odd, to say the least.

You are going to get some tough questions when you do this type of thing, and I doubt they tied her to a chair and burned her with cigarettes. She should have known she couldn't get a voter ID, and then to act like the cops were being unreasonable about it!!!

[Wella]

2. Your footnote says it all: she didn't get her Texas DL before 90 days.

That's why they asked a lot of questions. There are rules for state drivers and one of them is changing your DL when you move to a new state. I imagine her plates also said California if she hadn't been to the DMV in Texas. This is probably why the police thought she wasn't being honest with them about her residency.

On the other hand, however, that doesn't excuse their manner. Cops are getting out of control, even with minor, non-violent issues. They need training not to be a-holes.

That said, if you move to a new state, you need to get the DL and the address change done. I recently moved to a new county and had to update my address with the DMV and update all my voter reg stuff. I did all this immediately. I knew the midterms were coming up and didn't want my ability to support my candidates to be cut off.