“How many times must Speaker Paul Ryan read of American’s having their ballot access compromised before he finally brings the Voting Rights Act update to the House floor for a vote?” asked Jermaine House of the DCCC. “Republicans’ political push to limit vulnerable communities’ access to voting has been repeatedly laid bare. With just nine legislative weeks between now and Election Day, it is time for Speaker Ryan and House Republicans to end this cynical partisan endeavor and protect the voting rights of elderly, Latino and African American communities.”
Getting a photo ID so you can vote is easy. Unless you’re poor, black, Latino or elderly – Washington Post
By Sari Horwitz
May 23, 2016
Key Highlights:
[…] In November, 17 states will have voting restrictions in place for the first time in a presidential election. Eleven of those states will require their residents to show a photo ID. They include swing states such as Wisconsin and states with large African American and Latino populations, such as North Carolina and Texas. On Tuesday, the entire 15-judge U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in New Orleans is to begin hearing a case regarding the legality of the Texas law, considered to be the most stringent in the country.
[…] Supporters say that everyone should easily be able to get a photo ID and that the requirement is needed to combat voter fraud. But many election experts say that the process for obtaining a photo ID can be far more difficult than it looks for hundreds of thousands of people across the country who do not have the required photo identification cards. Those most likely to be affected are elderly citizens, African Americans, Hispanics and low-income residents.
[…]Republicans ‘giddy.’ Soon after Obama’s election, a surge of Republican-led state legislatures passed laws requiring photo IDs. “Voters who have to show ID constantly in their everyday lives certainly don’t see ID as a problem,” said Hans von Spakovsky, manager of the Election Law Reform Initiative at the conservative Heritage Foundation. “It is a ¬common-sense, basic requirement needed to ensure election integrity, which is an essential part of free and fair elections.”
[…]Opponents say that the laws were designed to target people more likely to vote Democratic. Last week, during the federal trial on Wisconsin’s voter-ID law, a former Republican staffer testified that GOP senators were “giddy” about the idea that the state’s 2011 voter-ID law might keep Democrats, particularly minorities in Milwaukee, from voting and help them win at the polls. “They were politically frothing at the mouth,” said the aide, Todd Allbaugh.