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Across the country, Republican governors and legislators (new world puppets) are pushing
unnecessary and suppressive photo identification laws that would require
all voters to produce a specific current government-issued photo ID
before casting a ballot. Another form of putting more power into our ID's and less freedom in our hands.
I see these measures bigger than just an attempt to prevent the high Latino and African-American voter turnout of the 2008 election.
“African-Americans
experienced much higher political participation rates, much higher than
any other group, including Latinos. There is a correlation between the
increase in Latino birthrates
and black participation rates and the states where we’ve seen this
crackdown in voting rights,” said Wendy Weiser, director of the
Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice. “Those groups are
going to find it more difficult to participate this time around.”
The oppressive effects of these bills are well-documented: 11% of Americans approximately 23 million citizens of voting
age lack proper photo ID and, as a result, could be turned away from the
polls on Election Day. Those without photo ID are
low-income, disabled, the minority, young, and older voters.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures,
thirty-two states have some sort of voting identification law. Many of
the states with the strictest laws are also places where, according to a
Pew Hispanic Center analysis of census figures, the minority populations have mushroomed.
Those states include
Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas — places that also must
get Voting Rights Act clearance before enacting new laws. The Voting
Rights Act gives the federal government the power to oversee any changes
in voting procedures in states and jurisdictions with a history of
voter discrimination.
