John Oliver, host of Last Week Tonight, gets into election issues to kick off the premiere for the 3rd season of the show last Sunday. Oliver blasts the voting laws requiring American citizens to apply for a voting ID.
According to Bustle, the HBO talk show host previously mentioned that he will tackle the elections in his show once it is in the same year it will be held. So this 2016, Oliver starts his election commentary with a bang during the premiere of his show.
Voter ID laws in the United States can be traced back to the 1950's. As reported by the National Conference of State Legislatures, it was not until the 2000's that voter ID began to take center stage yet again.
There are a two specific types of voter ID's, the strict and the non-strict. The strict one requires photo in the ID while the non-strict version does not. However, there are some states like Utah, Oklahoma, and Idaho that have strict non-photo requirements as well.
Time reported that Oliver was not in favor of the voter ID because the number of voting fraud is not that significant to begin with. In addition, the funny man said that even idiots should have an equal vote.
The advocates of voter ID's just want to prevent voting fraud or impersonation fraud during the election. Their main argument is that the ID's will help prevent the crime, or at least make it harder to do as the president.
Oliver said that impersonation fraud in elections is like a "deadly knife play by crabs." He goes on to say that his argument is in line with most people opposed to the voter ID. He said that it is pointless and a "pretty stupid crime" because the risks far outweigh whatever rewards there were if any.
Last Week Tonight is an HBO talk show that airs 11pm every Sunday on the cable network.
