Anderson@Large

Overcoming Voter ID

On March 15, 1965, President Johnson stood before Congress and declared, “And we shall overcome”:

Every device of which human ingenuity is capable, has been used to deny this right. The Negro citizen may go to register only to be told that the day is wrong, or the hour is late, or the official in charge is absent. And if he persists and, if he manages to present himself to the registrar, he may be disqualified because he did not spell out his middle name, or because he abbreviated a word on the application. And if he manages to fill out an application, he is given a test. The registrar is the sole judge of whether he passes this test. He may be asked to recite the entire Constitution, or explain the most complex provisions of state law.

Well, it’s back to the future where there are no uniform standards. Faceless clerks and election officials are making up the rules on who is eligible to vote. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported:

State officials said PennDOT clerks could now take age and other factors into consideration and grant exceptions to document requirements on a case-by-case basis.

Another source of confusion, for people trying to figure out if they already have the ID they need to vote: seemingly minor differences between names on photo ID cards and names on voter registration lists.

The new law addresses this issue, saying the name on a voter’s photo ID must “substantially conform” to the name on the roll of registered voters, which is duplicated in poll books distributed to every polling place on Election Day.

But the law does not offer any further explanation of what “substantially conform” means - leaving that to election officials at various levels to figure out on their own.

And as reported, election officials’ level of understanding of the new photo ID requirements varies from county-to-county:

Renee Cohen, a Democratic committeewoman in Blue Bell, Montgomery County, wanted to identify Democrats in her precinct who might need help.

She called Montgomery County voter services about two of them: a woman who had used the name “Judy” on her voter registration form, but “Judith” on her driver’s license, and a man who used the initials “C.J.” on his registration, but “Charles J.” on his driver’s license.

Amanda Witman, a spokeswoman for the Department of State, said both situations described by Cohen “would be ‘substantially conforming,’ in our opinion. That’s what we would recommend to the county election directors. But at the end of the day, it is their decision to make.. . . As we interpret the law, the county election directors do make the final decisions on those issues for their respective counties.”

Cohen got a different answer, however, when she called Montgomery County voter services.

I have monitored elections in Ethiopia and Angola, and conducted democracy training in Central Asia. The arbitrary way in which Pennsylvania’s voter ID law is being implemented would never pass the “free and fair” standard to which emerging democracies are held.

With a sustained public awareness campaign, we shall overcome voter ID. But freedom isn’t free. Please make a donation to the Cost of Freedom Project.

New Voter ID Rule in Pennsylvania

The lead plaintiff in the lawsuit challenging Pennsylvania's voter ID law, Vivian Applewhite, has been issued a PennDOT photo ID.

Ms. Applewhite still does not have the documents voters must produce in order to get a "free" photo ID. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported:

Nothing has changed since Viviette Applewhite, 93, testified in July. The law stands. She still doesn't have a driver's license or Social Security card. The name on her birth certificate is still different from the name on her other documents - all of which, under the law, should have barred her from getting her photo ID.

Ron Ruman, a Department of State spokesman, said:

PennDot has said all along that they would work with folks on a case-by-case basis.

It's the Applewhite rule:

You just have to keep trying. Don't give up.

Imagine That! No Evidence of Voter Fraud

Election Day is 83 days away.

A recently released News21 analysis found there is no evidence that voter ID requirements are need. After an exhaustive search of public records, the News21 team concluded voter fraud is “‘virtually non-existent”:

Analysis of the resulting comprehensive News21 election fraud database turned up 10 cases of voter impersonation. With 146 million registered voters in the United States during that time, those 10 cases represent one out of about every 15 million prospective voters.

David Schultz, professor of public policy at Hamline University School of Business, told News21:

Voter fraud at the polls is an insignificant aspect of American elections. There is absolutely no evidence that (voter impersonation fraud) has affected the outcome of any election in the United States, at least any recent election in the United States.

While in-person voter impersonation is a figment of Republicans’ imagination, it’s easy to imagine the confusion and long lines voter ID will cause on Election Day. A Washington Post poll found that voters don’t know what they don’t know. Jon Cohen, The Post’s director of polling, observed:

From a public awareness standpoint, it’s pretty low awareness, We’re talking about under half of all American adults who have even heard something of this raging controversy.

Last week, the Cost of Freedom Project, the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, and The Andrew Goodman Foundation launched a public awareness campaign to raise awareness of the new photo ID requirements.

Please make a donation to support the campaign. Voters can’t get ready if they don’t know they are in the crosshairs.

The clock is ticking.

Are You Ready?

Election Day is 90 Days Away

Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson is expected to rule on the lawsuit challenging Pennsylvania's voter ID law later this month.

Meanwhile, time is running out to help voters without an acceptable form of photo ID get ready.

Check the Cost of Freedom App to verify that you have an acceptable photo ID for voting purposes before you go to the polls.

Know Your Voting Rights

Today is the 47th anniversary of the signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

In his remarks, President Lyndon B. Johnson said:

This act flows from a clear and simple wrong. Its only purpose is to right that wrong. Millions of Americans are denied the right to vote because of their color. This law will ensure them the right to vote. The wrong is one which no American, in his heart, can justify. The right is one which no American, true to our principles, can deny.

[…]

This right to vote is the basic right without which all others are meaningless. It gives people, people as individuals, control over their own destinies.

Forty-seven years later, states have enacted new legal barriers that could make it harder for five million eligible voters to exercise the basic right of our democracy. The most burdensome change requires voters to show an acceptable form of photo ID in order to vote.

In Pennsylvania, for instance, a new analysis of the impact of the state’s voter ID law found that in Philadelphia, the birthplace of our democracy, voters in predominantly African American precincts are 85 percent more likely to lack a PennDOT ID than voters in predominantly white precincts.

So with the clock ticking, the Cost of Freedom Project has partnered with the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation and The Andrew Goodman Foundation to educate voters about the new photo ID requirements.

The Cost of Freedom App is a web-based solution to help voters cut through the confusion and quickly navigate a voter ID application process that’s disenfranchising by design.

The public awareness campaign will be powered by social media, as well as traditional media. Voter education materials will be distributed at town hall meetings, policy forums and other community events.

To get involved in this voter empowerment campaign, send an email to Cost of Freedom Project.

Disenfranchisement by Design

What happens when you put a Republican operative in charge of developing Pennsylvania’s voter ID community outreach plan? You get a poster that adds to the confusion (h/t Jorge Santana).

As Jorge noted, the new poster does not inform voters their ID must have an expiration date. Nor are voters informed the state plans to issue a new “voter ID” card later this month.

The poster is Exhibit A in Pennsylvania’s taxpayer-funded voter suppression by voter ID scheme.