The Voter ID Canard

The question of making Voter IDs mandatory for elections is a very hot issue as we approach the 2012 elections.  Approximately 34 states will have Voter ID bills on their ballots.  While there is always a need to promote ways to guarantee free, open, and honest elections, this push for Voter IDs is an inappropriate response which will disenfranchise countless times more votes than they will prevent fraud.

Indeed, the Voter ID movement is a canard: a suppressive response to a made up problem.

According to the Christian Century of 26 July, 2011, "Federal prosecutors spent five years during the Bush administration trying to crack down on voter fraud, but their cases were negligible because they could find so few cases.  Fewer than 100 people were convicted nationwide, and almost all the cases involved not deliberate fraud but honest confusion."

The Advancement Project, an advocacy group of civil rights lawyers, describes this push for government issued identification before people are allowed to vote as "the largest legislative effort to scale back voting rights in a century".  Why?

A survey by the Brennen Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law found that 11% of citizens, 21 million people, do not have a current photo ID.  That fraction increases to 15% of low income citizens of voting age, 18% of young eligible voters, and 25% of Black eligible voters.  Those demographic groups tend to vote Democrat, and Republicans are imposing what they know many will be unable to meet. (New York Times, 27 April 2011).

In the state of Minnesota, the state which has perhaps the cleanest voting record of all states and the highest voter turn-out in the nation, The League of Women Voters reported that there were "0" voter impersonations and only 115 felons who voted.  In Minnesota felons cannot vote.  Of those, approximately 35 registered to vote but did not vote, and the rest voted.  This is a "fraud error of .0000383% in a total vote count of 3 million.  In a survey of all 87 Minnesota counties, of which 80% responded, which comprised 90% of all Minnesota voters, there were NO REPORTED FRAUDS other than the 115 felons, of which there were only 36 convictions.

The ACLU reports that between 2002 and 2007, the United States Attorney General reported ZERO evidence and convictions of impersonational voter fraud.  In Texas, the governor pushed through a Voter ID law even though there were ZERO instances of fraud, according to the Texas Attorney General.

Requiring Voter IDs presents problems: 1) Accessibility to Department of Motor Vehicle locations; 2) Having to accurately fill-out provisional ballots; 3) In some cases the expense of the card.  The people most affected will be those least able to go through the required hoops.

There is significant evidence that the big push for Voter IDs originates from the Republican Right.  Specifically, a Right-wing group called ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council), funded significantly by the Koch brothers, is playing a major role in this voter suppression drive.  ALEC has provided model bills for legislators to consider, including Voter ID bills.  I encourage you to Google ALEC.  ALEC is corporate power stifling the democratic process.  In 1980, Paul Weyrich, the founder of ALEC, said: "I don't want everybody to vote."

The Brennan Center for Justice estimates that nearly 5 million "would be voters" may be affected by the passage of these Voter ID bills.  Overwhelmingly, this would benefit the Republican Party.

Making voting more difficult for certain groups is a violation of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act because everyone is guaranteeed the right to vote, and putting up unncessary barriers is a violation of the Constitution.  It is like an old fashioned "poll tax" which prevented many Blacks from voting.

The Voter ID is a canard designed to disenfranchise millions of voters at the expense of Democratic candidates, to the benefit of the Republican candidates.  This is unfair.  Unjust.

I would urge all to speak out against Voter ID cards and vote in opposition.  Voting is the kingpin of democracy.  Democracy requires equal opportunity for participation.  I would also encourage those interested to search Brennen Center for Justice and the ACLU for up to date information.

Democracy for ALL!  Equal participation for ALL!

Peace!
Ron