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Voter Suppression by Voter ID

This week marks the 47th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday,” a seminal event in voting rights history.

The televised images of protesters being brutally assaulted on the Edmund Pettus Bridge sparked a national outcry and led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Fast forward to today. Rep. John Lewis, who is pictured in the above photo, said:

We're not being beaten on the bridge, but we're being blocked at the ballot box.

Indeed, the weapon of choice is photo ID.

My friend Bill Fletcher Jr., Director of Field Services & Education for the American Federation of Government Employees, writes:

But a cancer has begun to spread in the electoral realm, one that is appropriately receiving greater and greater attention.

It is the cancer of voter disenfranchisement and it is happening under the banner of stopping alleged voter fraud. While this may sound perfectly reasonable, there is only one problem: voter fraud has not been documented as a significant problem any time in the recent past. Nevertheless, a primarily Republican legislative offensive has taken place in fourteen states that could make it more difficult for at least five million voters to cast their ballots in November 2012.

Bill continues:

For these reasons there appear to be the makings of massive electoral theft, something that goes beyond the crudeness of both Florida in 2000 and the voting machine issues in Ohio in 2004. This is about the “legal” elimination of millions of voters, particularly those who the Republicans expect to vote Democratic. When these individuals are restricted from voting, or too discouraged to vote, the charlatans who passed the regressive legislation that made this all possible will simply throw their hands into the air and feign a lack of responsibility.

The Cost of Freedom Voter ID App will help minimize the number of voters who become discouraged by an application process that is disenfranchisement by design.

Please make a pledge today. The civil rights generation fought to remove barriers to the ballot box. It’s now our responsibility to fight voter suppression.

Freedom isn’t Free

The Cost of Freedom Voter ID App campaign on Start Some Good is live. If you are concerned about voter suppression by photo ID, please make a pledge today.

I would like to share the video of my presentation of the Cost of Freedom Project at the Hack/Hackers Meetup at the Philadelphia Inquirer.

A pledge in support of the Cost of Freedom App is not about accommodating voter suppression. It’s about accommodating reality. The reality is in five states, including Wisconsin, a swing state, voters must show goverment-issued photo ID in order to vote. As of this writing, Virginia and Pennsylvania, battleground states, are poised to pass voter ID laws.

We must challenge voter ID laws but with Election Day less than eight months away, we have to help voters without an official photo ID cut through the confusion.

So please make a pledge today and share the link with your friends and family. If you don’t help voters get ready, who will?

The struggle continues.

Virginia is for Haters of Voting Rights

The tourism slogan of the Old Dominion is “Virginia is for Lovers.”

In the former capital of the Confederacy, there is no love for voters who lack government-issued photo ID. The Washington Post reports:

 A Republican bill that imposes identity requirements for voting in Virginia passed the Senate on Monday thanks to Republican Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling’s tie-breaking vote.

[…]

The voter ID bill generated bitter opposition from Democrats, particularly African-American senators who said it was akin to Jim Crow-era efforts to suppress black votes in a battleground state bracing for bruising presidential and senatorial campaigns.

Virginia state Sen. Henry Marsh, said:

This is one more barrier beyond those that have been erected over the years. When I first voted, I had to pay $5 for a poll tax. There were blank registration forms used at the time I registered to vote, so they gave you a blank piece of paper and you had to fill out the questions and the answers.

Sen. Yvonne B. Miller added:

I’m old enough to remember Virginia’s inglorious voting history. This is called chilling the vote. There are reasons that people give that may make it for some Virginians. It does not make it with me. Although I won’t change any person’s mind, I will say to you that this is another day of shame for Virginia.

That shameful history notwithstanding, Republicans are writing laws that block access to the ballot box. Meanwhile, voting rights advocates are writing reports.

The calvary is not coming. It's time to wake up and help voters without an official photo ID get ready. With Election Day eight months away, they need help navigating the application process. Many can't do it alone.

The Struggle Continues

As Black History Month winds down and the 47th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday” is on the horizon, the assault on the right to vote continues. MSNBC reports:

In an election year dominated by battles over health care mandates, tax rates, and rising gasoline prices, it’s the mechanics of voting – and who’ll get to vote in November – that’s getting full-time attention from state legislators, election lawyers, and judges.

In the latest example, the Virginia state Senate is headed for a vote Friday on a new voter identification requirement – one more indication that the voter ID controversy will keep boiling in legislatures and in the courts right up to Election Day.

These new voter ID laws are being proposed almost exclusively by Republican legislators and governors in states throughout the nation, spawning both litigation and angry rhetoric from Democrats.

Florida Rep. Frederica Wilson told MSNBC:

All of a sudden after the 2008 election, these (voter ID laws) miraculously appear. Why? Because we have a black president in the White House and it is to stop all of the people of color from … coming out to vote, because they (the proponents of voter ID laws) know who they are targeting …

Indeed, we do know. The struggle continues.

Cost of Freedom App Demo Day

On Valentine's Day, I participated in a panel discussion on how advocacy groups, civil rights organizations and ordinary citizens are using social media to protect the right to vote.

I did a demo of the Cost of Freedom web app.

And a live demo of the text app.

In the coming weeks, I will chronicle the Cost of Freedom Project as we prepare to launch on April 4. In the meantime, I want to share an excerpt from a post written by Brittany Papalia, an intern with the National Women’s Law Center:

Faye Anderson stole the attention of the attendees with colorful commentary and excitement on how she was going to keep these laws from passing, saying “I don’t like to fight, but I don’t like to back down from a fight either.”

That's true. Or as I like to say, if you don't want no mess, don't start no mess.

Papalia notes that strict voter ID requirements have a disparate impact on women:

So how do these new laws affect women? Well, if 34% of women lack proof of citizenship, then that may make attaining a photo ID more difficult since most DMV’s require some sort of proof, typically a birth certificate. Not to mention women who get married and change their last name and address! If their state is following a stricter system, then they will be unable to change their address at the poll without proof of their new address. As Faye Anderson joked, “she finally put a ring on it, but she can’t find the damn license!”

While voter ID is no joke, to motivate citizens to get in the arena, voting rights advocates must move beyond studying and talking about the problem.

To get involved with the Cost of Freedom Project, powered by We the People, please visit us at Facebook.com/CostofFreedom.

Happy Valentine's Day

If you love democracy, please view the livestream of a panel discussion on social media and voter ID TODAY from 3pm to 5pm EST. I will demo the Cost of Freedom App. You can join the conversation via Twitter using the hashtag #CAPVoterID.

For info about the Cost of Freedom Project, visit us at Facebook.com/CostofFreedom.

Protecting the Right to Vote

Election Day is 272 days away. Are you ready?

If you live in Virginia or Pennsylvania, you may have to get ready to show government-issued photo ID in order to vote in the November election.

Yesterday the Virginia Senate passed a voter ID bill. The Pennsylvania Senate may vote on a voter ID bill this week.

In a recent speech at Tulane Law School, Attorney General Eric Holder said “the Justice Department can't do it alone.” He called on every citizen to get involved:

For every citizen, protecting the right to vote, ensuring meaningful access, and combating discrimination must be viewed, not only as a legal issue – but as a moral imperative. And every citizen, in every state, must be part of this work.

The citizen-led Cost of Freedom Project is in the arena. The Cost of Freedom Voter ID App will help voters get ready. Please join us.