Non Strict Voter Identification Laws

It 's been 51 years since the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed into law, yet it seems as if voter discrimination may still be going on today. Some of the legal barriers, that it was originally meant to overcome, such as preventing African Americans from voting, have been rising in many other forms through voter identification laws. Lizette Alvarez in "G.O.P. Legislators Move to Tighten Rules on Voting", discusses some of the requirements that Republicans have tried to add to voter identification laws over many years such as photo ID’s. Kristen Clarke in "Burdening The Right To Vote: Assessing The Impact Of Mandatory Photo Identification Requirements On Minority Voting Strength", discusses how requiring photo ID’s can greatly affect African

Voter ID laws are two sided, but most Americans feel that it is necessary to prevent voter fraud. Republicans feel that an individual should already have a state ID because this is required by so many government agencies. Unfortunately, the Democrats are the ones to be most likely affected due to their voters’ economic status, disabilities and age. Whereas, Democrats believe that it is a tactic to defer their supporters from voting.

1. As many of us know, union political action takes four basic forms: (1) financial support to candidates favoring union positions, (2) volunteer work by union members in campaigns, (3) endorsement of candidates and get-out-the-vote efforts, (4) and lobbying. All of the above forms are important in our cause but what I believe I should be assigned to lead the endorsement of candidates and get-out-the-vote efforts. Unions have put in a substantially increased amount of volunteer and financial resources since 1995.

This is because Jim Crow laws, laws on voting intending to discriminate against freedmen were ratified. These laws included Poll Taxes which were taxes that were charged when a person went to go vote but since sharecropping was unsuccessful for freedmen they could not afford to pay the poll taxes thus not allowing them to vote. To insure that this law would not affect the poor white people, more Jim Crow laws were introduced. These included the Grandfather Clause and Literacy tests. The Grandfather clause states that if your grandfather or father could vote before the year of 1867, then you could vote.

With compulsory voting many countries become successful. Germany,Peru, Australia and many more countries have been required to vote since the late 1800’s to the late 1900’s (Doc A). In Brazil those who don 't vote have to pay a fine, causing many to not miss their voting slot time

The big three; poverty, shame, and board of registrars, gave was loop holes they made you go through in order to vote in MS. Later South Carolina, Louisiana, North Carolina, Alabama, and Virginia joined the bandwagon. Outside of the other states Louisiana named theirs “grandfather clause” which was much different other than the fact of voting was based off your

By 1790, six states had revoked the rule of religion and allowed any religious affiliation to vote. Six states began to allow African Americans to vote as well. The US Constitution left the right to vote up to the states. In the early nineteenth century, the abolition of property rights as a requirement for voting rights and offices holders was banned.

The second and less well-known is that of the growth of economic justice during the after the Voting Rights Act was signed into law. The economic aspect is one of the most successful and enduring features which directed from the Voting Rights Act movement, and enacted the economic boost in the economy. Since, now, African Americans and other minorities had a brief amount of rights, this sparked an opportunity to be seen as a taste of freedom. According to a Stanford professor, “Some of the economic benefits were apparent almost immediately after the enactment of the Voting Rights Act. Surveys reported more paved roads and streetlights in black residential areas, better access to city and county services, and increased black hiring in public-sector

Voter fraud is the act of a voter not listening to the American policy “ one person one vote”, and votes more than once. People can commit this fraud by registering under the names of deceased citizens, voting without citizenship, registering in multiple locations, ineligible voting, and more (U.S News). Voter suppression is a variety of tactics used to decrease the number of voters who vote in a particular election (Ballotpedia). It can be used as a technique to convince people to not vote. According to Aclu.org ,voter suppression laws make it difficult for Americans to vote “ particularly black people, the elderly, students, and people with disabilities”.

One must be a United States citizen; a resident of the county where one submit the application; at least 18 years old on Election Day; not a convicted felon; and not been declared by a court exercising probate jurisdiction to be either totally mentally incapacitated or partially mentally incapacitated without the right to vote (Vote Texas). Even though these are very specific requirements, there have been times where people vote even if they do not meet them. In an effort to reduce voter fraud, Texas passed Senate Bill 14 that requires Texas’ voters show one of the following photo identifications on Election Day: Texas driver license issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), Texas Election Identification Certificate issued by DPS, Texas personal identification card issued by DPS, Texas concealed handgun license issued by DPS, United States military identification card containing the person’s photograph, United States citizenship certificate containing the person’s photograph, United States passport (Champagne and Harpham 98). In June 2013 the US Supreme Court ruled, in a 5-4 decision, striking down the formula for determining the states that were covered under section 5 preclearance condition contained in The Voting Rights Act.

The main purpose of the voter ID law is to prevent voter fraud and it has yet to be a big issue. Since there has been no problems, I assume that there has been some sort of leeway happening in the registration process. One of the main forms of leeway could be the fact that we have the option of 7 different types of identification that could be presented in order to vote. And not only that, but we have the right to submit provisional votes as well until we show some sort of ID to match our registration

Second, anyone who is caught committing voter fraud will be punished severely. This includes attempting to fraudulently get an ID, attempting to vote under someone else’s name, or any other kind of voter fraud. Consequences will include being banned from voting or holding any government office forever, potentially a fine or jail time. Requiring photo ID to vote is a highly debated topic on both the national and state level. Many argue that voter ID would go against the freedoms listed in the constitution.

This unfamiliarity and thought of the process being confusing deters the younger people from registering to vote in the first place. By removing this process, voters can just show up to cast their votes and move on with their day without worrying about this potentially confusing process. These three methods combined could increase the voter turnout for each

Even though the government adopted the Voting Rights Act in 1965, African Americans’ suffrages were still restricted because of southern states’ obstructions. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was important for blacks to participate in political elections, but before this act was passed, there were several events led to its proposal. The government gave African Americans’ the right to vote by passing the 15th Amendment, but in the Southern States, blacks’ suffrages were limited by grandfather clauses, “poll taxes, literacy tests, and other bureaucratic restrictions” (ourdocuments.gov). As times went on, most African Americans couldn’t register their votes.

This group of people are less likely to have identification for some unfortunate reason. The law also effects the trust that people have in the voting system. People feel that if the system is not set up to be fair they will not participate. There are only six states that have a strict voter id requirement which include Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Wisconsin, South Carolina Texas and Tennessee (Underhill, 2017). In these states there is an issue of discrimination against minorities.