Study Shows Voter ID Laws Supress Legal Voting

This will continue to be a tough battle (0.00 / 0)

Matt, this is a well-done study.  I appreciate you posting a link to it.  

What continues to amaze me is the absence of any real evidence of "voter fraud" on the part of voter ID advocates.  There have been a few isolated incidents, but the idea of a systematic campaign to cheat the election process has been conclusively disproven.  And yet, the right-wing think tanks and their acolytes among elected officials and conservative media continue to insist that massive change to the electoral process must occur.  

Most of us think this issue is so ridiculous that we cannot imagine how serious the battle is.  As easy as it is to mock the lack of evidence, or to ascribe partisan motives to voter ID advocates, voter ID bills have passed in several states and were only stopped in Texas a handful of legislative leaders, among them Rafael Anchia, Mark Strama, Rodney Ellis and Mario Gallegos.  These legislators deserve our thanks -- and continued vigilance.  


DeeceX: making Texas safe for democracy

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by: DeeceX @ Tue Jan 08, 2008 at 17:35:53 PM UTC

still proud of Sen. Gallegos (0.00 / 0)

Lots of courage.

It took the entire caucus, but special props to Mario.

Please refer to KT's signature.

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by: colin @ Tue Jan 08, 2008 at 17:56:45 PM UTC

Voter ID (0.00 / 0)

We have to show our ID when we open a bank account and when we fly -- I show my ID for lots of things (even when you buy a drink) -- so what is the problem with requiring an ID for voting?  I don't see this as a Democratic or a Republican issue.  

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by: bahamamamasmama @ Tue Jan 08, 2008 at 22:56:10 PM UTC

then why are Republicans the only ones maniacly pushing it? (3.00 / 1)

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by: Joe @ Tue Jan 08, 2008 at 23:28:17 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Well that's great but... (5.00 / 1)

There are millions of Americans who do not have Bank Accounts, either because they do not earn enough to maintain minimum balances, do not trust the industry, have had the industry discriminate against them in the past, or never grew up with banks being part of their life. There are tens of millions of American who have never flown on an airplane because they cannot afford to. Driving 100 miles to another city may be considered a luxury, that is, if they even have a car.

This alone shows the cultural gap in thinking.

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by: Karl-Thomas Musselman @ Tue Jan 08, 2008 at 23:31:27 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Here's the problem, bahamamamasmama (3.00 / 1)

Unlike you, there are a lot of folks who don't fly or drive and don't have a photo ID. Nonpartisan academic studies - not Democratic studies - have consistently shown that these voter ID laws disproportionately disenfranchise the elderly, the poor, and people of color.

When you say "we have to show ID when we do x, y, or z," that may apply to you and me, but you have to put yourself in the place of others who have drawn a different lot in our culture.

Fact is, voting is a right, not a privilege like flying or driving. And as Deece said, there is not one shred of evidence of systematic "voter impersonation," the only kind of fraud a Voter ID law could address. Study after study shows it just doesn't happen, and there are some honest Republicans who agree with that point.

However, there is solid evidence that Voter ID laws do suppress the vote, and the number of Americans who vote is already an embarrasment compared to other democracies. Who gains from these voter ID schemes? Karl Rove Republicans, and they are the only ones who introduce such proposals in state after state.

So please, walk a mile in someone else's shoes and understand that although yours may not be the vote that is denied by Voter ID laws, they echo the days of poll taxes and literacy tests. And that's why we fight to protect the right to vote every time they trot out such schemes.  

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by: Ed Martin @ Wed Jan 09, 2008 at 04:50:24 AM UTC