By: Daniel Nardini
A federal judge ruled that Texas’ voter identification (ID) law is unconstitutional, and that it is discriminatory against racial and ethnic minorities as well as low-income families. A month before, a state judge let stand Pennsylvania’s ID law, saying that it is constitutional. The State of Texas and the plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the State of Pennsylvania filed by the American Civil Liberties Union will appeal these judgements. It is very clear that these two judgements stand in contrast to each other, and the whole issue of whether voter ID laws are constitutional may go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney supports these laws while current U.S. President Barack Obama stands against these laws. The Republicans, the ones who have mainly voted for these voter ID laws, believe that it will prevent fraud at the ballot box. Democrats and many independents contend that it is a way of keeping people from voting, thus affecting the election results.
One thing is clear, many people are being prevented from voting in this upcoming election because of these voter ID laws. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, which tracks voting rights, as many as five million people will not be able to vote because of these voter ID laws. The ones who will be most affected are ethnic and racial minorities, low-income residents, and the disabled. Many of these residents live in areas where getting state identification cards and driver’s licenses is difficult if not next to impossible. And where these identification cards are available, many state residents may have problems getting them because the states that have passed voter ID laws require many documents that state residents do not have. Worse, many residents cannot afford the expenses of getting these cards or the documentation required. Some Democratic legislators are trying to streamline the process in a number of states to help those who cannot get state ID cards or driver’s licenses.
But the main problem is that these state ID laws that had gone into effect in Texas, Florida, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Mississippi, Kansas, and Wisconsin. Alabama and Tennessee have already tightened their voter ID laws. Many federal and state officials contend that voter fraud is rare, and that there are already safeguards in place to deal with voter fraud. That such restrictive ID laws have come into place seems more in the interests of some to restrict voting more than to stop voter fraud. These two arguments—voting rights as well as voter fraud—are now playing out in courts in various states. The decisions being made are as contrary and contradictory as enforcement of these laws. Since we are seeing voter ID laws being held constitutional as well as unconstitutional, this whole argument may very much end up at the U.S. Supreme Court. What is scary is if these laws will indeed curtail voter access during this upcoming presidential election, thus changing the results of who will be president?
Good Judgement, Bad Judgement
By: Daniel Nardini
One thing is clear, many people are being prevented from voting in this upcoming election because of these voter ID laws. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, which tracks voting rights, as many as five million people will not be able to vote because of these voter ID laws. The ones who will be most affected are ethnic and racial minorities, low-income residents, and the disabled. Many of these residents live in areas where getting state identification cards and driver’s licenses is difficult if not next to impossible. And where these identification cards are available, many state residents may have problems getting them because the states that have passed voter ID laws require many documents that state residents do not have. Worse, many residents cannot afford the expenses of getting these cards or the documentation required. Some Democratic legislators are trying to streamline the process in a number of states to help those who cannot get state ID cards or driver’s licenses.
But the main problem is that these state ID laws that had gone into effect in Texas, Florida, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Mississippi, Kansas, and Wisconsin. Alabama and Tennessee have already tightened their voter ID laws. Many federal and state officials contend that voter fraud is rare, and that there are already safeguards in place to deal with voter fraud. That such restrictive ID laws have come into place seems more in the interests of some to restrict voting more than to stop voter fraud. These two arguments—voting rights as well as voter fraud—are now playing out in courts in various states. The decisions being made are as contrary and contradictory as enforcement of these laws. Since we are seeing voter ID laws being held constitutional as well as unconstitutional, this whole argument may very much end up at the U.S. Supreme Court. What is scary is if these laws will indeed curtail voter access during this upcoming presidential election, thus changing the results of who will be president?