The Republican effort to make it harder for certain people to vote–particularly the new voters that turned out in 2008–was further challenged this week. In Texas and Wisconsin, young voters take a stand against voter ID while a U.S. senator cautions Tennessee to heed voters when implementing its new restrictive photo ID law.
- Krissah Thompson and Aaron Blake at the Washington Post write on Republican lawmakers sacrificing the democratic process for partisan gamesmanship with the passage of photo ID laws and curbing of early voting and voter registration drives. “It all hits at the groups that had higher turnout and higher registration in 2008,” said Judith Browne-Dianis, co-director of the Advancement Project. “It just seems like a partisan setup [that is] all about who is going to be in the White House in 2012. This really is the worst rollback of voting rights that we’ve seen in a century.”
- The Economist examines the drive behind pushing photo voter ID laws, despite the fact that they exclude certain voters and prevent the extremely rare crime of voter impersonation: “Whatever their intent, these laws impose significant costs on states. Nationally, around 11% of registered voters lack government-issued photo IDs. States cannot charge for IDs required to vote (that would be a de facto poll tax). They must spend time and money ensuring that voters know about the new requirements and can get their IDs easily. Still, a growing number of states seem to consider that money well spent.”‘
- The Young Voters Education Fund stood up in defense of students who are inexplicably excluded from using their student photo IDs for voting (whereas concealed weapon licenses are permitted to vote). The law, which is under review by the Justice Department and not yet effective, was supported by the state GOP to prevent alleged voter fraud. Contradictorily, a former political director of the state Republican Party has said voter fraud is “a lie. It’s not true. It does not exist,” according to the Houston Chronicle blog, Texas Politics.
- In an effort to legally allow students in Wisconsin to use their school IDs to vote, the Government Accountability Board permitted the use of stickers to indicate an expiration date (a requirement for voter photo ID under the state’s new law). However, this caused some confusion among tech school students, who are exempt from this option.
- On Monday, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, D-Ill called on Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam to ensure the state does not implement its new photo ID law in a way to make it harder for people to vote. Waiting for hours in a DMV line or taking time off of work to obtain ID, he said, imposes a hardship on voters. When asked if he thought the Supreme Court–which approved Indiana’s strict photo ID law–would recognize these hardships, Durbin replied, “I think if they explore the real cost to people to comply with state laws, it raises some serious constitutional issues.”