http://www.nytimes.com/2012/
http://www.justice.gov/crt/
Voting is the most sacred right of citizens of free societies. People in other nations risk death to vote because they believe in and trust the process (even when they shouldn't). Northern swing states exempt from the VRA Section 5 have passed or tried to pass horrible GOP-led voting change laws in places like PA and OH in 2012 (trying in vain to help Romney). Gerrymandering goes on in most of the nation, is one of the top threats to our political system IMO, and fortunately places like CA have tried to fight the trend with districts drawn by an independent commission. And contrary to what we might assume, the VRA Section 5 applies to non-Dixie states like CA, NY, MI, and AK. So it's not a giant conspiracy against the South. And if they pass reasonable law changes, then there's nothing to worry about, so why oppose the VRA?
Chief J. Roberts said that the VRA Section 5 is not
necessary anymore. If so, does that mean the flagged states have learned
to enact fair laws, and injustices do not occur? Take a look at the
attached jpg. It's from the Jun 25 edition of Daily Show, but my video
res was bad at the time and I can't make out the source (US Justice
). If we trust it, it shows that that
the DOJ has objected to 74 voting law changes in these states since
2000. I am not sure how many changes were passed on the other hand, but
clearly the law IS necessary and still needs to be enforced. Maybe it's a
shame/pride issue that these states are tired of getting extra scrutiny
as "recovering racists". But hey, parolees have that mark on their
records forever. Again, if you write just laws, what do you have to fear
from the Feds? And many of the flagged states are in the top 15 of the
FBI's list of states with the most hate crimes per capita (AL, MI, AZ,
SC). Interestingly, LA, GA, and MS are among the best on the hate crimes
list - but that is likely a reporting issue (those states have like one
intern working on it).
http://www.businessinsider.
http://www.businessinsider.
Gerrymandering
has also made it likely that the GOP control many state legislatures.
So they try to push through changes to help the GOP in federal
elections. This is just like the business world: don't fight fair. The
goal of elections is to get more votes than the opponent, right? Instead
of putting in the work to make a better product and
communicate/convince voters of that, they prefer to rig the game so that
they win regardless of the quality of their product. They know America
is changing demographically (and some may argue politically), and it is
getting nearly impossible for the GOP to control the Senate or WH (or
even the House if districts were drawn rationally). So instead of trying
to capitalize on the winds of change, they are typically rejecting it.
How can we win with just the old, white, wealthy (or ignorant),
Christian, angry vote? Make it harder for Dem supporters to vote. We
already have some of the most inconvenient voting practices in the free
world. It's a miracle that turnouts are so high. Now some states want to
make it even harder, by implementing some of the strictest voter ID
laws in the world. On paper those laws sound reasonable, but in practice
they serve to confuse, intimidate, and target specific populations.
Plus those laws address a nonexistent issue. Voting fraud DOES NOT
HAPPEN to a material degree, and in fact is rarer than a 4-leaf clover
(even some Republicans say this). Why invest all this time and effort
fighting an imaginary problem? Ironically, there were 10 documented
cases of in-person voter fraud since 2000, so that makes the improper
voting law problem 7X bigger! Go America!
http://www.businessinsider.
http://www.motherjones.com/
Advancement Project in 2012 put together a map showing all voter ID laws and restrictions in all 50 states.
State-level voter ID laws fall in one of the following categories:[24]
Strict photo ID (voters must show photo ID at polling place or follow-up with election officials soon after the election if they fail to provide a photo ID when voting): Georgia, Indiana, Kansas and Tennessee. In addition, Mississippi, Texas and South Carolina have strict photo ID laws that must receive, but have not received, approval from the U.S. Justice Department; pending such approval, they all require non-photo ID, except for Mississippi which has no other voter ID law on the books. Pennsylvania & Wisconsin have had their photo ID laws restricted by the U.S. court system, and they will not be in effect for the 2012 election cycle.
Photo ID or alternative (voters at polling place must either show photo ID or meet another state-specific requirements, such as answering personal questions correctly or being vouched for by another voter or poll worker(s) who have a voter ID): Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, Michigan, South Dakota and New Hampshire.
Non-photo ID (state-specific list of acceptable forms of polling place ID, including a non-photo form): Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Kentucky, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Utah, Virginia and Washington. Arizona, Ohio and Virginia also have strict, after election follow-up rules for voters that fail to provide the required voter ID when voting at a polling place. Alabama has a newer photo ID law that is scheduled to take effect in 2014, if it gets pre-approval from the U.S. Justice Department.
No ID required at polling place: all other states not noted above.
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