voter id law

The Brennan Center released a report on the impact of all of these state Voter ID laws and restrictions on voting that have been popping up all over the country. Their findings? We're screwed. There's really no sugar coating this. We're screwed.

"State governments across the country enacted an array of new laws making it harder to register or to vote. Some states require voters to show government-issued photo identification, often of a type that as many as one in ten voters do not have. Other states have cut back on early voting, a hugely popular innovation used by millions of Americans. Two states reversed earlier reforms and once again disenfranchised millions who have past criminal convictions but who are now taxpaying members of the community. Still others made it much more difficult for citizens to register to vote, a prerequisite for voting.

These new restrictions fall most heavily on young, minority, and low-income voters, as well as on voters with disabilities. This wave of changes may sharply tilt the political terrain for the 2012 election. Based on the Brennan Center’s analysis of the 19 laws and two executive actions that passed in 14 states, it is clear that:

• These new laws could make it significantly harder for more than five million eligible voters to cast ballots in 2012.
• The states that have already cut back on voting rights will provide 171 electoral votes in 2012– 63 percent of the 270 needed to win the presidency.
• Of the 12 likely battleground states, as assessed by an August Los Angeles Times analysis of Gallup polling, five have already cut back on voting rights (and may pass additional restrictive legislation), and two more are currently considering new restrictions."

Some states have worked to eliminate Election Day Registration (EDR). We here at FM have long been advocates of EDR because it helps young people who tend to be more transient than older people who are more established and can afford to buy a house.

Voting rights advocates have long praised EDR. Because it has existed in some states for nearly forty years, there is a substantial record of its benefits. States with EDR have consistently had higher turnout than states without, and the top five states for voter turnout in 2008 were all EDR states. There is also evidence that EDR specifically increases turnout among young voters. . . .

Opponents of repeal also pointed to the benefits of EDR, including increased registration among the young and those who moved shortly before Election Day, greater voter turnout, and greater convenience for voters. Montana Secretary of State Linda McColloch argued that since its passage in 2006, 19,000 people registered to vote on Election Day in Montana, and that the repeal attempt ran “counter to the core freedoms of our democracy ... [i]f you support freedom, and you support democracy, you cannot support a bill that will turn your neighbors away at the polls.”

In a Democracy, why would you want to take away participation in that process? For that, you'll have to ask the GOP, because they seem to be at the helm of passing these more restrictive bills. EDR is one thing, but the voter ID laws are taking the imaginary problem of voter fraud and turning it into a farce.

"Opponents maintain that photo ID laws exclude large swaths of the electorate, since 11% of citizens— and an even greater percentage of low-income, minority, young, and older citizens—do not have state- issued photo IDs. They argue that photo ID requirements are similar to a poll tax, whether or not the IDs are offered for free, because to obtain the necessary IDs citizens must produce documents that cost money, like passports and birth certificates."

According to the ED of the Brennan Center 5 million voters will be hurt by these laws. FIVE MILLION VOTERS. In the NY Times he remarks that both the 2000 and 2004 elections were decided by less votes than that.

State Rep. Joe Dorman from Oklahoma was an ally in demanding there be a student ID prevision in the Voter ID bill that Oklahoma's Republican House passed a few weeks ago. He was elected in 2002 as a former young elected official and member of Gen X. His district borders Cameron and University of Science & Arts of Oklahoma. We are grateful to have his perspective here. --Sarah

A recent commercial I saw during the NCAA tournament stuck with me even longer than most of the exciting games I watched.  In this commercial, a group of cable executives are looking for a catchy slogan to help win over customers.  One of the people comes up with the slogan to "Youthenize" their viewership.  While this was meant to be play on words with "euthanize" or be a slam, I see where this slogan can easily be translated positively into politics.

For centuries, there has been a "Good Old Boy" system run the affairs of our states and the nation.  With recent changes to law in fifteen states, we have seen term limits implemented and drive out many of these long-term officials.  While this is an issue that can be argued good and bad, the end result has often given younger elected officials an opportunity to serve, therefore "youthenizing" the various public forums.

Unfortunately, the result has often not been consistent with voting for issues affecting the youth of our nation. Party politics too often has driven the focus on many votes.  We have seen many key issues driven by national interests to stipulate policies that frequently disenfranchise voters and various groups.  One area in particular is voter identification; it has been questioned as a system that will disenfranchise elderly and young voters alike.

In Oklahoma, we have been fortunate enough to have an author of this bill, Rep. Sue Tibbs of Tulsa, who has agreed that college identification should be considered valid.  This will take care of at least one aspect to allow voters from other states to legally cast a vote even if they do not have a local drivers license. Too often, students will register where they are enrolled in school, and the last thing we want is a poll workers turning them away should the student not have an in-state license.

While we have many younger elected officials who have had the opportunity to serve in Oklahoma, we have also seen a trend towards less accountability though their actions.  The ability to manipulate the message with their own agendas has been growing stronger.  Many younger politicians master the Internet to publicize forums, issue press releases and promote opportunities for voters to meet them (as I even do on Facebook and Twitter). Too often, the public buys into this message as factual and forgetting that these are generated by the politicians or paid staff assigned to make them look good.  Further, there is less accountability from the media, the "fourth branch of government" in these changing times and especially with the financially strapped situations their outlets have faced.

Fortunately, many advocates have stepped up to the plate. One such is Mr. Brown, a gentleman from Singapore, who has blogged about local and international politics and has gained worldwide appreciation for his efforts in accountability.  We have also seen individuals in Oklahoma spread awareness on issues such as autism coverage and seek out support through various outlets which has brought in a new audience who formerly paid little attention to politics.

Another example of issue awareness is the interview of CNBC's Jim Cramer (host of Mad Money) done by Jon Stewart of the Daily Show which I saw on a blog because I missed the original airing. This was a brilliant interview about our financial problems and should be seen by everyone. I'm glad I had a second chance due to a blog posting.

The best part of all this is that blogging has piqued the interest of a younger generation who formerly felt like they could make very little difference in the political system. It has brought them together on message boards, in chat rooms, and using social media to show them that they are not alone in this crazy, mixed-up world.

While "youthenize" might sound like something bad if you are listening to this instead of reading it, I hope you will believe me when I say that it is exactly what our current system of government needs. The next step is to move away from the keyboard, get active and maybe even run for office yourself. Even if you do not win, you are advocating the message which is important to you.

If we are to bring back a heart and a conscience to politics and empower a generation that is seeing opportunities unlike any other before, we have a lot of "youthenizing' to do to the system and to the "Good Old Boys" politicians.

Editor Note: You can add Joe on Facebook and Twitter

HAVA = FAIL. The Help America Vote Act was passed after 2000 when we saw some of the most insane voting problems in Florida that required the US Supreme Court to decide who the President would be. So the new President decided to put forth millions of dollars to help that NEVER happen again... Guess what... it didn't help.

According to a New York Times piece the exact same number of people that had problems in 2000 matched the number of people who had problems in 2008. A whopping 4-5 million voters.

"An additional two million to four million registered voters — or 1 percent to 2 percent of the eligible electorate — were “discouraged” from voting due to administrative hassles, like long lines and voter identification requirements, the study found."

This is according to an extensive study by 150 universities lead by MIT during October and November which surveyed 33,000 eligible voters. The number one problem involved administrative errors. Not voter fraud.... not identification... not a failure to prove who the voter is or isn't.... clerical error. Oops!

This comes at an interesting time because 3 states this week are pushing the Voter ID Bill - claiming that we have to have an ID to prevent fraud. Texas, Oklahoma, and Georgia Republicans proposed legislation, leaving my mind to wonder.... is there a widespread rampant persistent itchy outbreak of voter fraud I haven't heard about going on?

The only voter fraud I heard about is Ann Coulter....

Mike posted the press release SAVE sent out yesterday talking about the problems in Texas and Oklahoma - and despite the save we made with the amendment to allow student ID's be used in Oklahoma - there are still thousands of Oklahomans that stand to be disenfranchised if Governor Brad Henry doesn't veto the bill.

One of the most amazing things was the mention for the record about the student ID portion by Rep. Joe Dorman and the profound floor speech by my buddy Rep. Ryan Kiesel. Listen live below:

In the end, however... it passed.

Texas is just as bad. In a release from the Texas Democratic Party it appears that a male member of the State Senate (Troy Fraser) decided to make sexest jokes rather than answer questions about the voter ID bill.

"I have trouble hearing women's voices," he said when fellow Senator Wendy Davis asked a question during the floor debate about SB 362.

"Sen. Fraser’s voter suppression legislation threatens to take Texas back to the days when some citizens had a voice in the election process and others, including women, were silenced,” said Texas Democratic Party Spokeswoman Kirsten Gray.  “Sen. Fraser and his fellow Texas Senate Republicans need to move past their selective hearing and listen to what this bill really is: A sad and divisive echo from the past."

The release also says that the proposed Texas Voter ID Bill would disenfranchise countless Texas women:

 

• Of all Americans without a license:
• Women are more than twice as likely as men not to have a drivers’ license.
• One of every five senior women does not have a license.
• Over 70% are women.
• There is ample anecdotal evidence that suggest factors like name changes related to marriage and divorce make it less likely a woman will have a current name and address on a photo ID that matches the name and address on the voter list.

The Times piece quotes Sen. Schumer who said that the number of people prevented from voting in 2008 actually exceeded the popular-vote margin in the previous two presidential elections - way to put it into perspective.

"Little has been done, however, to remove barriers to registration and absentee voting.

"Registration issues were for 2008 what machine problems were for the 2000 election,” said Stephen Ansolabehere, a political science professor at Harvard and the study’s lead author. . ."

The study also found that as the popularity of absentee voting had increased, so too had the challenges voters faced in getting those ballots, most often because the requested ballot arrived too late, or the information on the ballot request did not correspond to information in the voter rolls."

I think the increase of vote by mail might have something to do with the inconvenience of voting on Tuesday ... (insert shameless support for Why Tuesday here).

There is a great need for perfecting voting systems so we reduce the number of people that are disenfranchised - but the voter ID laws just cause more problems rather than solving them.

Carnahan's are a pretty big name in Missouri politics as public servants who have gone above and beyond to lead and serve with distinction. The first (possibly only) campaign my cousin (who is 10 years older than me and have always looked up to) was a Carnahan campaign. I haven't stopped hearing about them since.

But as a next generation voter and politico in my family, I've discovered my favorite Carnahan in Robin for her relentless pursuit of fair and accurate voting laws.

Give the post I did yesterday about the Durbin/Schakowsky/SAVE Student Voter Bill extravaganza, I wanted to also highlight some of the dangers Missouri faced in had the new voter ID bill passed. These laws and other "policies" enacted by renegade county clerks can result in the disenfranchisement of hundreds if not thousands. The bill presented yesterday seeks to help with some of those stumbling blocks, but the states can do so much more. Look to Robin Carnahan as a guide. As her site says

"It is also my job to protect the voting rights of every eligible citizen. Not 95% of our citizens. Not just Missourians who have a drivers license or a passport. But every eligible Missouri citizen.

I caught up with Secretary Carnahan at Netroots Nation where she educated many of us about election laws and their impact on voting. She took a few minutes to speak with me about how these laws affect young people.

note: I have no idea why this video is still processing, its had 10 hours... re-uploaded and 5 minutes later works... conspiracy??