Voter Suppression Threatens To Turn Back The Clock

Our voting rights are under attack.

Since 2011, at least 180 bills tightening voter restrictions have been introduced in 41 states, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law. And 17 states have passed laws that could even tilt the outcome of the 2012 election, as they hold 218 electoral votes of the 270 needed to win the White House.

There are a number of ways to suppress the vote — shorter voting hours, purging voter rolls, selectively understaffed precincts — but in this election cycle the most prevalent method will be stricter voter ID requirements. One out of 10 Americans doesn’t have the kind of government-issued photo ID cards mandated by the new legislation, and nearly 500,000 Americans could struggle to get a photo ID because of limited access to transportation, the Brennan Center has warned.

Here are the races we’ll have our eye on this November:

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  Daphne Taylor, CWA Local 13500

  In Philadelphia, we have activists spread out over nine busy train and bus stations. We’re wearing bright red shirts that say VOTER REGISTRATION with CWA, NAACP and TWU logos. We do stand out, and as a group we’ve been pulling in about 60 to 65 registrations a day. We’ve been doing really well.

  Voter ID is a big deal. We have a lot of seniors who are having trouble. Lots of people migrated from down south, where they didn’t have birth certificates – they had midwives. They’re wondering, how do you get an ID without a birth certificate? We’re telling them how to get those free IDs and other forms of ID so they can go to the ballot box.

  Recently I came across two older women, who are Jehovah’s Witnesses, who believe it’s all in God’s hands. They weren’t going to vote. I expressed to them that the president in office has a huge impact on women’s rights, seniors’ rights – their own rights. I tried to impress on them the importance of voting. It actually worked and I got them registered.

  This is the first time I’ve been really politically active. I’m telling everyone why this election is just so important – particularly for unions. We definitely need to maintain our quality of life and fight for our rights. I joined CWA five years ago, when I started working at Verizon. Especially with the fight over our contract, we need to have a president that stands with workers to protect collective bargaining.

  Pennsylvania: Citizens and activists are waiting for another court ruling on the controversial voter ID law that puts the voting rights of some 750,000 Pennsylvanians in jeopardy.
  
  The Pennsylvania Supreme Court sent the voter ID law back to a lower court to determine if acquiring the necessary IDs interferes with voting rights and could unfairly disenfranchise voters.
  
  The state’s Commonwealth Court has until Oct. 2 to respond.
  
  
• Florida: After erroneously purging thousands of “potential non-citizens” from its voter rolls, Florida is now informing them that they are indeed registered to vote. The decision came after civil rights groups filed a lawsuit alleging discrimination against Hispanic and black voters. But, a federal judge has upheld a new law cutting the number of early voting days from 14 to 8.
  
  
• South Carolina: A federal court in DC will decide whether South Carolina’s stringent new voter ID law violates the Voting Rights Act. The Justice Department objected to the law last year, saying it could potentially disenfranchise minority voters.
  
  
• Minnesota: Voters will get the final say on a proposed constitutional amendment that would require a government issued photo ID to vote in person.
  
  
• Texas: A US District Court three-judge panel blocked a Texas law that would have required voters to show a photo ID, ruling that the legislation “imposes strict, unforgiving burdens on the poor” and that “a disproportionately high percentage of African Americans and Hispanics in Texas live in poverty.”
  
  
• Wisconsin: A state circuit court judge blocked a voter ID law signed by GOP Gov. Scott Walker. The judge ruled that the law addressed a problem that was “very limited, if indeed it exists.”
  
  
• Colorado: The state has stopped its plan to purge voters just weeks before Election Day.

These undemocratic attacks aren’t a coincidence.

The American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, a right-wing policy group backed by big business, has systemically been spreading fear of a nonexistent voter fraud epidemic. Many investigative reports revealed that ALEC drafted and distributed model voter ID legislation among Republican legislatures and governors, who then enacted ALEC’s recommendations to disenfranchise scores of voters — especially groups that typically vote Democratic.