Home
Forums
New posts
Search forums
What's new
New posts
Latest activity
Members
Current visitors
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
New posts
Search forums
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Home
Forums
Brown Cafe Community Center
Current Events
Voter Suppression
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="BrownArmy" data-source="post: 1020650" data-attributes="member: 18225"><p>Here's a <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/aug/10/voter-id-laws-republican-ruse-disenfranchise" target="_blank">tidbit</a> about how the laws selectively target minorities, elderly, and the poor:</p><p></p><p></p><p><em>"...This phenomenon takes the form of a <a href="http://www.politico.com/blogs/burns-haberman/2012/07/how-voter-id-laws-could-affect-the-outcome-in-november-130443.html" target="_blank">spate of new voter laws</a>: efforts by Republican governors and Republican-controlled state legislatures to pass restrictive new voting rules <strong>just in time for election day</strong>. As a result, at least 5 million Americans <a href="http://www.brennancenter.org/content/resource/study_new_voting_restrictions_may_affect_more_than_five_million" target="_blank">could essentially lose their right to vote</a>, according to the non-partisan Brennan Center in New York...</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>The most common tactic is to heavily restrict the types of identification required at polling stations. In Pennsylvania, for example, that means requiring all voters to present <a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20120809_Philly_city_commissioners_chief_denounces_voter_ID_law_with_data.html" target="_blank">very limited types of ID</a> only available from the state's department of transportation. Since many inner-city voters don't drive, or many young voters have out-of-state driver's licenses, these likely Obama voters will all be stopped dead in their tracks before they reach the polling booth. The problem is so severe that <strong>the state of Pennsylvania itself has admitted that nearly 10% of voters do not have the required identification</strong>. In Philadelphia, an Obama stronghold, that figure is closer to 20%. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/10/eric-holder-voter-id-poll-tax_n_1662847.html" target="_blank">Attorney General Eric Holder summed it up</a> perfectly when he called these voter ID measures the equivalent of a "poll tax", at the NAACP summit in July.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>In Florida, where history proves that less than 1,000 votes can swing a national election, the efforts to stop minorities and the poor from voting are not just limited to new voter identification laws. In fact, voter registration drives have been banned, and early voting, thought to favor Democrats, has been significantly curtailed. Even more worrying is Governor Rick Scott's attempt simply to remove Obama voters from the election rolls. In May, Scott ordered a purge of his state's voter lists, based on drivers' license records, which he acknowledged to be deeply flawed.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>As a result, the state's division of elections initially found a mind-boggling 180,000 "ineligible voters" by performing a search of a computer database with inaccurate information. Yet, the purge goes on: the Miami Herald found that 58% of the people in a sample of 2,700 "ineligible" voters were Hispanic, and 14% were black. Whites and Republicans were least likely to be barred from voting. Even a second world war veteran was told he was not a citizen and <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/06/01/1096521/-Florida-tells-another-91-year-old-WWII-veteran-he-s-not-a-nbsp-citizen" target="_blank">so to stay away from the voting booth</a>."</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em></em><a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2012/08/voter_id_laws_why_do_minorities_lack_id_to_show_at_the_polls_.html" target="_blank"></a></p><p><a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2012/08/voter_id_laws_why_do_minorities_lack_id_to_show_at_the_polls_.html" target="_blank">Here</a>'s some more:</p><p></p><p></p><p><em>"...Minorities are less likely to have driver’s licenses because they are more likely to be poor and to live in urban areas. If you can’t afford a car, or if you don’t need one because you take the bus or subway, you are less likely to have a driver’s license. Students are less likely to have driver’s licenses for the same reasons (plus the fact that they can sometimes rely on student IDs, and may just have not gotten around to getting a driver’s license yet). Moreover, minorities may be more likely to have lost their driver’s licenses: The Wisconsin study found that an estimated 8 percent of Hispanic adults and 17 percent of African-American adults <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CF8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww4.uwm.edu%2Feti%2Fbarriers%2FDriversLicense.pdf&ei=2dgzUNKKO9SF0QGEuoDoBg&usg=AFQjCNH0T5QqCGcLGbaLsJ-zWkXSZe7wwA" target="_blank">had no current license but had a recent suspension or revocation</a>. Almost half of suspended driver’s licenses were due to failure to pay outstanding fines, which may explain why poor people are less likely to have licenses.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Driver’s licenses are not the only accepted forms of identification, but minorities may face extra challenges in securing other legally valid IDs. Passports, military IDs, and other government-issued photo ID are generally accepted, and some states accept student ID cards from state universities. Texas accepts concealed-weapons licenses, but New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice points out that African-Americans are also less likely to have these concealed-gun permits. For voters who need to secure a valid ID, tracking down the necessary documents—such as a birth certificate and social security card—can take time and money, and the Brennan Center additionally reports that <a href="http://www.brennancenter.org/content/resource/the_challenge_of_obtaining_voter_identification/" target="_blank">many voting centers are far away from minority voters and are rarely open</a>. Minorities also move from state to state more frequently, which makes meeting varying requirements for documentation more difficult, and Hispanics often use different naming customs, which can make for additional confusion at the DMV or voting booth. Additionally, the Brennan Center suggests that <a href="http://www.brennancenter.org/content/resource/policy_brief_on_voter_identification/" target="_blank">minority voters are more likely to be carded at the polls</a>."</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em></em>Tell me how this isn't a power play.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="BrownArmy, post: 1020650, member: 18225"] Here's a [URL="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/aug/10/voter-id-laws-republican-ruse-disenfranchise"]tidbit[/URL] about how the laws selectively target minorities, elderly, and the poor: [I]"...This phenomenon takes the form of a [URL="http://www.politico.com/blogs/burns-haberman/2012/07/how-voter-id-laws-could-affect-the-outcome-in-november-130443.html"]spate of new voter laws[/URL]: efforts by Republican governors and Republican-controlled state legislatures to pass restrictive new voting rules [B]just in time for election day[/B]. As a result, at least 5 million Americans [URL="http://www.brennancenter.org/content/resource/study_new_voting_restrictions_may_affect_more_than_five_million"]could essentially lose their right to vote[/URL], according to the non-partisan Brennan Center in New York... [/I] [I]The most common tactic is to heavily restrict the types of identification required at polling stations. In Pennsylvania, for example, that means requiring all voters to present [URL="http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20120809_Philly_city_commissioners_chief_denounces_voter_ID_law_with_data.html"]very limited types of ID[/URL] only available from the state's department of transportation. Since many inner-city voters don't drive, or many young voters have out-of-state driver's licenses, these likely Obama voters will all be stopped dead in their tracks before they reach the polling booth. The problem is so severe that [B]the state of Pennsylvania itself has admitted that nearly 10% of voters do not have the required identification[/B]. In Philadelphia, an Obama stronghold, that figure is closer to 20%. [URL="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/10/eric-holder-voter-id-poll-tax_n_1662847.html"]Attorney General Eric Holder summed it up[/URL] perfectly when he called these voter ID measures the equivalent of a "poll tax", at the NAACP summit in July. [/I] [I]In Florida, where history proves that less than 1,000 votes can swing a national election, the efforts to stop minorities and the poor from voting are not just limited to new voter identification laws. In fact, voter registration drives have been banned, and early voting, thought to favor Democrats, has been significantly curtailed. Even more worrying is Governor Rick Scott's attempt simply to remove Obama voters from the election rolls. In May, Scott ordered a purge of his state's voter lists, based on drivers' license records, which he acknowledged to be deeply flawed. [/I] [I]As a result, the state's division of elections initially found a mind-boggling 180,000 "ineligible voters" by performing a search of a computer database with inaccurate information. Yet, the purge goes on: the Miami Herald found that 58% of the people in a sample of 2,700 "ineligible" voters were Hispanic, and 14% were black. Whites and Republicans were least likely to be barred from voting. Even a second world war veteran was told he was not a citizen and [URL="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/06/01/1096521/-Florida-tells-another-91-year-old-WWII-veteran-he-s-not-a-nbsp-citizen"]so to stay away from the voting booth[/URL]." [/I][URL="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2012/08/voter_id_laws_why_do_minorities_lack_id_to_show_at_the_polls_.html"] Here[/URL]'s some more: [I]"...Minorities are less likely to have driver’s licenses because they are more likely to be poor and to live in urban areas. If you can’t afford a car, or if you don’t need one because you take the bus or subway, you are less likely to have a driver’s license. Students are less likely to have driver’s licenses for the same reasons (plus the fact that they can sometimes rely on student IDs, and may just have not gotten around to getting a driver’s license yet). Moreover, minorities may be more likely to have lost their driver’s licenses: The Wisconsin study found that an estimated 8 percent of Hispanic adults and 17 percent of African-American adults [URL="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CF8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww4.uwm.edu%2Feti%2Fbarriers%2FDriversLicense.pdf&ei=2dgzUNKKO9SF0QGEuoDoBg&usg=AFQjCNH0T5QqCGcLGbaLsJ-zWkXSZe7wwA"]had no current license but had a recent suspension or revocation[/URL]. Almost half of suspended driver’s licenses were due to failure to pay outstanding fines, which may explain why poor people are less likely to have licenses. Driver’s licenses are not the only accepted forms of identification, but minorities may face extra challenges in securing other legally valid IDs. Passports, military IDs, and other government-issued photo ID are generally accepted, and some states accept student ID cards from state universities. Texas accepts concealed-weapons licenses, but New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice points out that African-Americans are also less likely to have these concealed-gun permits. For voters who need to secure a valid ID, tracking down the necessary documents—such as a birth certificate and social security card—can take time and money, and the Brennan Center additionally reports that [URL="http://www.brennancenter.org/content/resource/the_challenge_of_obtaining_voter_identification/"]many voting centers are far away from minority voters and are rarely open[/URL]. Minorities also move from state to state more frequently, which makes meeting varying requirements for documentation more difficult, and Hispanics often use different naming customs, which can make for additional confusion at the DMV or voting booth. Additionally, the Brennan Center suggests that [URL="http://www.brennancenter.org/content/resource/policy_brief_on_voter_identification/"]minority voters are more likely to be carded at the polls[/URL]." [/I]Tell me how this isn't a power play. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Home
Forums
Brown Cafe Community Center
Current Events
Voter Suppression
Top
