Have you ever tried to get into a Sam’s Club without an ID? Not happening. A few other activities that require an ID include purchasing alcohol, tobacco, or a firearm, renting an apartment, opening a bank account, entering a federal courthouse, boarding an airplane and cashing a check. Yet, in many states, ID is not required to perform one of America’s most sacred acts: voting.
Voter ID laws picked up steam after the ACORN scandal of a couple of years ago in which voter registration fraud was found to be wide-spread (note: that turned out to be just one of ACORN’s many issues).
In Alabama’s historic 2010 legislative session, a new, strict voter ID law was passed. Now, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is joining a growing chorus of Democrats who are calling the new voter ID laws an attack on minorities and the lower class.
From Politico:
Under increasing pressure from civil rights groups to take action against a wave of state voter identification laws, Attorney General Eric Holder issued a public warning Tuesday that the new laws could disenfranchise minority voters, but he stopped short of promising the broad legal crackdown many activists are seeking.
“It is time to ask: What kind of nation and what kind of people do we want to be? Are we willing to allow this era — our era — to be remembered as the age when our nation’s proud tradition of expanding the franchise ended?” Holder said in a speech at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum in Austin, Texas.
Visit Politico for the complete article.
I’d say the lack of voter ID laws is an attack on the cornerstone of American democracy: one person, one vote. Verifying the identity of voters protects the legitimacy of our elections. The Alabama legislature should be applauded for addressing this issue.
And here’s the kicker, ID is also required to apply for food stamps and welfare. Aren’t those the people who Democrats complain wouldn’t have the resources to obtain an ID?
With that porous of an argument, one has to wonder which side is truly concerned about disenfranchisement, and which side just wants to skew the results in their favor.
[Update: A Rasmussen Poll released today shows 70% of Likely U.S. Voters believe voters should be required to show photo identification such as a driver’s license before being allowed to cast their ballot. Only 22% oppose this requirement.]
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