Mandatory ID laws about more than preventing voter fraud
The right to vote is one of the most fundamental rights given to a U.S. citizen. Midterms may be over, but one of the largest issues surrounding this past election and elections of recent years is the matter of a mandatory voter ID, which is required to vote in some states.
Masen Matthews
The prerequisite of possessing a photo ID issued by the U.S. — most commonly a driver’s license — seems like a simple key to avoid any sort of voter fraud. Unfortunately, this is not the case and the matter of a mandatory voter photo ID places voting roadblocks in the way of certain U.S. citizens, which leads to deprivation of the constitutional right to vote.
Mississippi, Texas, Georgia and Kansas are just some of the states that require a photo ID to vote. Specific laws differ across the country, but new ID laws are sweeping the nation. Texas has the spotlight right now, as the state has recently enacted some of the strictest voter ID restrictions in the nation.
One might wonder who exactly is harmed as a result of strict photo ID requirements to vote. Well, the straightforward answer is the poor and elderly, as well as various minorities. MSNBC recently published a story about a 93-year-old woman who couldn’t vote in Texas because her driver’s license was expired and she couldn’t get a new one. The Guardian covered a similar person, focusing on a man in Texas who couldn’t fit the new photo ID requirements alongside an estimated 600,000 residents of the Lone Star State.
A key question to examine here is how someone from a low-income rural community without stable family support would actually go about obtaining a legal photo ID. It’s true citizens can obtain a photo identification card without a driver’s license.
Consequently, how would one go about doing that if they lacked the credentials to obtain such an ID? Many people lack some of the basic identifications such as Social Security cards or birth certificates. Without that sort of documentation, it’s incredibly difficult to obtain a photo ID.
This movement to enact new voting laws is merely a continuation of policies that create a disproportionate political landscape in the U.S. This landscape places the poor and underprivileged in a position where their rights are restricted — even if they have not committed a crime that would render them ineligible to vote.
Recently, Florida tried to enact mandatory drug testing for welfare recipients that ended up as a colossal failure by all accounts. Hopefully, this trend of pushing for mandatory photo ID for voting will follow suit.
The necessity for a photo ID to vote is a ridiculous disservice aimed at suppressing the rights of law-abiding U.S. citizens. Being poor isn’t something to be penalized for, and bipartisan support needs to exist to repeal these laws. Voter fraud may be an issue to some, but keeping innocent peoples’ right to vote is what needs to take priority in today’s political landscape.
Masen Matthews can be reached at [email protected]