Pressing Issue: Stop Voter Suppression!

Hi guys, today we'd like to address an issue that many civil rights leaders see as a way to suppress black and latino votes. This is not the first attack of its kind, but things are getting worse! What are we prepared to do about this not-so-subtle way to silence the voices of countless citizens? An article published in Sociological Images explains what's at stake pretty well: "In 2011, a sudden wave of state-level voter restrictions in Republican-controlled states has swept the nation, just in time for the 2012 election, with 19 new laws and two executive actions on the books. Some of these laws reduced or eliminated early voting, while others did away with weekend voting and same-day registration. All 50 states require voters to prove their identification at the polls, but 17 states have pending or approved law mandating government-sponsored IDs in order to vote, despite the fact that approximately 11% of citizens don’t have such IDs (for various reasons)." (...) "Voter ID laws disproportionately affect Black Americans, Latino/a voters, U.S. citizens who were born in other countries, elderly people, people with disabilities, transgendered people, and students — all of whom are less likely to have the required ID for different reasons. A 2006 Brennan Center study finds that 25% of Black , 16% percent of Latino/s, and 18% percent of elderly Americans lack the necessary ID. Some on the left have accurately likened these new laws to Jim Crow Era poll taxes because the expense involved in obtaining an ID place a disproportionate burden on many groups that have been historically disenfranchised."
Check out the VOTING CHANGES REPORT for more info, and make sure to know what the voter ID requirements are in your state.
And please let us know how you feel about this issue in the comments.

Tags: America, Election, ID, Laws, Politics, Presidential, Suppression, Tax, US, Voter

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Comment by koveus on July 9, 2012 at 5:52pm: At least I can look forward to the AP fest...the 62 bus straight to the park...yay!

Comment by koveus on July 9, 2012 at 5:51pm: Good ol america.......

Comment by Compound Egret on March 18, 2012 at 3:01pm: Even though I have my driver's license in my pocket, what about voting absentee? I started doing this years ago. It's not hard at all.

Comment by malachi smith on March 15, 2012 at 10:44am: If you are politically minded, Change.org has a great petition system for this type of thing. Best of luck!

Comment by malachi smith on March 15, 2012 at 10:43am: The best you can do is get the word out, on as large a scale as possible - people have a skewed opinion of voting in general, and I can't say I blame them. Even though I vote, have a state ID, etc - I see the behavior of politicians and why it makes people lose faith. In a sense, not voting or refusing to " play along " en masse could send just as much of a signal as anything else.

Comment by ossie g. on March 9, 2012 at 7:04pm: NEW WORLD ORDER aka KRACKERNISM.

Comment by weallfail on March 8, 2012 at 7:19am: The ostensible reasons for Republicans backing these laws are bullshit. Most voter fraud is done by the people handling the voting and not the voters. According to the source article the number of possible voter frauds is 9. I also looked up articles in scholarly journals which yielded similar numbers. In 2010, the US Elections project estimates approximately 236 million eligible voters. So the possibility of you being a victim of or committing voter fraud is about 1 : 27 million. Here is some statistics to put into comparison:

Odds of being hit by lightning (in a given year): 1 : 1 million (NWS)

Odds of winning Mega Millions (without the bonus ball): 1 : 3.9 million (Mega Millions)

Odds of winning Mega Millions (with the bonus ball): 1 : 175 million (Mega Millions)

Odds of being born and surviving as a Siamese twin (low estimate): 1:1 million (U. Maryland Medical Center)

Odds of being killed in a plane crash per average American: 1 : 11 million (NOVA)

The punishment of being convicted for voter fraud is enough to deter people from committing it. Clearly, the Republicans, in support of these laws, wish to curb possible Democratic votes. If they truly wanted to fix the issue they should fix the voting system and do away with the Electoral College. It is much easier to fake a few thousand votes to win a state than a few million to win an election.