By Michael Powell
Opinion Editor
Recent attempts by state legislatures around the nation to implement voter identification laws do very little to combat the problem of voter fraud. As a result, these laws “throw the baby out with the bath water” and make it harder for citizens to vote.
Many of these laws require photo IDs like drivers licenses. Although it may seem logical to require such forms of identification at the voting booth, the reality is that acquiring such forms of identification is costly to voters. In fact, proponents of these laws point to the state of Wisconsin as riddled with voter fraud. This claim is baseless; out of three million votes cast in 2004, there was found to be a fraud rate of .0002 percent, according to the Brennan Center.
Why are Republicans pushing these voter ID laws? Many liberal analysts will say that Republicans aim to suppress poor voters, who tend to vote Democratic.
According to the Washington Institute for the Study of Ethnicity and Race, Indiana’s photo ID laws, which are of the strictest in the nation, affect one-fifth of Indiana residents by requiring such forms of ID. Furthermore, the study showed that African-Americans were disproportionately affected.
These laws do not fix the problem of voter fraud and only perpetuate the trend of voter suppression. If someone is willing to commit voter fraud, forging an ID won’t be difficult. States should be stopping criminals, not voters.
Instead of trying to stop people from voting with red tape, state governments should make voting easier for all citizens of voting age. Weekend voting should be maintained in states like Florida where Republican law makers are hard at work trying make it harder for working people to vote.
If lawmakers wish to promote accountability in the electoral system, they should look toward stopping election fraud, not voter fraud. Laws should thus be implemented that promote transparency with electronic voting machines.
Proponents of voter ID laws, like Alabama Congressman Artur Davis, claim that voting is no different from cashing checks or using a public library; all are activities that do and should require ID. Congressman Davis ignores that voting is a fundamental constitutional right. One doesn’t need an ID when practicing freedom of speech; why is the freedom to vote any different?
States like Texas that are challenging the Justice Department suspension of their laws are more concerned with politics than liberty. Texas could not prove to the Justice Department that its law did not violate Section 5 of the Voting Rights
Act, which requires all changes in voting practices to be neutral in their affect on minorities.
It is thus clear that voter ID laws exacerbate the nearly non-existent problem of voter fraud, make voting difficult and discourage voter participation.
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