Voter ID Laws

In the United States, there is no more important right we have than the right to vote. The ballot box is one of the few places in this country that everyone is presumed equal, because the right to vote represents all our other rights; the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But just like they are slowly taking away a woman’s right to choose and a same sex couple’s right to marry, the GOP is disenfranchising voters all over the country through voter ID laws.

Now I’m sure many of you are thinking “But you have to have a valid ID to drive a car or buy liquor and lottery tickets. Heck, you even need a valid ID to watch a rated R movie”. And those of you thinking that would be correct. But all of those activities are recreational and none of them are a right for anyone. While the Constitution does not specifically state that voting is a protected right, it does specify that voting rights cannot be abridged or denied based on the following grounds: birth, race, color, gender, age, or the inability to pay any kind of tax. And voter ID laws are, in essence, a tax. Whether it’s getting a standard state-issued ID or obtaining the documentation needed to get a free voter ID, there is a cost associated with these laws.

Since 2008, 33 of the 32 voter ID laws proposed in state capitols across the country were proposed by Republicans, passed by Republicans, and signed by Republicans. In a report done by the Justice Department during the Bush administration, 196 million votes were cast. And of those votes, there were only 87 cases of voter fraud. That’s about 0.00004% of all votes cast in 5 years. Basically, you’re more likely to be hit by lightning than commit voter fraud. So why are Republicans trying so hard to crack down on this? Certainly not because it’s such a rampant problem and a threat to our democracy. No, the only problem and threat it poses is to them.

These voter ID laws aren’t about “ensuring honest elections” like the 2012 Republican Party platform calls it. As we all know, Republicans have a hard time getting certain people to vote for them. So instead of finding a way to connect with those voters, they come up with a solution to a non-problem: they disenfranchise the people they know have the least amount of representation in government.

So the question now is: what voters are being disenfranchised by voter ID laws? And the answer is approximately 21 million Americans, the majority of which are people of color, the poor, the elderly, women, and young people. A large section of these groups don’t have any form of the acceptable ID required to vote by some of these voter ID laws and they don’t have a way to rectify that. In Texas for example, IDs must be obtained from a Department of Public Safety office. But while there are over 250 counties in Texas, many counties don't have a DPS office. And most of those are poor, rural counties where the majority of disenfranchised voters live.

Voter fraud is as much of a problem in the United States as stealing a piece of Double Bubble is a loss for a gas station owner. If Republicans were serious about ensuring honest elections and more ballot access, they would support campaign finance reform. They would support a streamlined registration process for first time voters. They would support allowing every single eligible voter to cast their vote. They certainly wouldn’t be disenfranchising voters who vote against them.

Lots of Love,
Liberal Ladies