Sweeping the nation like an out-of-control brushfire, voting law reforms are affecting 31 states to date and endangering the privilege to vote for nearly five million Americans. The new laws vary from state to state, some requiring photo IDs of registered voters, a few eliminating or stunting early voting periods and others discontinuing same day registration practices that helped clear the path for a record breaking voter turnout in the 2008 presidential election.
“We’ve seen a wave of voter suppression laws and we are fighting to keep as many of those from going into effect as possible,” said Benjamin Jealous, president of the NAACP. Eight states, such as Georgia and South Carolina, currently have the strictest form of photo ID requirements that do not allow a ballot to be counted until photo identification is made. Seven states require a photo ID, but allow other documents or means of identity verification to stand in place of a state or federally issued ID. Sixteen states, like Arizona and Colorado, have passed legislation stating an ID or document such as a utility bill with the voter’s correct name and address can be used to vote, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, a bipartisan group of lawmakers.
“It’s one assault with many parts: voter IDs, registration IDs, attacks on same day registration, Sunday voting and early voting across the board,” said President Jealous. The laws threaten to disenfranchise out-of-state college students who don’t have a government issued ID with a current address, minorities, and elderly Americans who have no record of birth or a valid driver’s license. Proponents for photo ID laws say the method is an effective way to prevent voter fraud.
However, according to reports by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, an advocacy organization, since October 2002, there have only been 86 prosecuted cases of election fraud, while some 196,139,871 million votes have been cast in general elections. “The lesson of 2011 is that we have to be prepared to fight voter suppression legislation every year,” said President Jealous, who joined organizations such as the American Federation of Teachers and other unions from around the nation in commemorating the 47th year since the civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, AL.
Later coined “Bloody Sunday,” for the violent police attacks officials marchers endured, the warriors on that day fought without raising a single weapon in return for the dog teeth and police batons turned on them. By simply pressing forward to their destination, the marchers put the future of a nation ahead of their own lives, families, careers, and most importantly- their fears. Unafraid to face bigotry and blind hate non-violently, Willia Belle Lee understood why she must fight for her right to vote by marching in 2012 just as much as she did as an 11-year-old in 1965. Lee returned by wheelchair to complete the same course she walked years ago in the name of a better world.
“The ballot is very powerful. It changed our lives,” said Lee, the daughter of an Alabama minister.
“I am very hopeful, and I am praying, that this will make an impact upon my children and my grandchildren’s era so they will never give up the power of the ballot or be lackadaisical about that power.”
College students like Maricela Abila took pride in walking side by side with Lee and other students of 1965 whose acts of bravery helped pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Abila came from Idaho to participate in the week of events, representing thousands of young adults who are facing hurdles in healthcare, the workplace and the voting booth. “It’s unfortunate that as a society we are moving back into time,” said Abila, a fourth year student at the University of Idaho.
Abila is a Latin-American studies and literature major who encourages her undergraduate counterparts to “read and spread the word” about the changes to laws that directly affect them.
