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| Then-presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama greets supporters before a rally in Madison, Wisconsin. President Obama returned to the University of Wisconsin to get young voters and minorities excited about voting in the midterms, 02/12/08. (photo: Rick Bowmer/AP) |
28 December 11
Next fall, thousands of students on college campuses will attempt to
register to vote and be turned away. Sorry, they will hear, you have an
out-of-state driver's license. Sorry, your college ID is not valid here.
Sorry, we found out that you paid out-of-state tuition, so even though
you do have a state driver's license, you still can't vote.
Political leaders should be encouraging young adults
to participate in civic life, but many Republican state lawmakers are
doing everything they can
instead to prevent students from voting in the 2012 presidential
election. Some have openly acknowledged doing so because students tend
to be liberal.
Seven states have already passed strict laws requiring a government-issued ID (like a driver's license or a passport) to vote, which many students don't have, and 27 others are considering such measures. Many of those laws have been interpreted as prohibiting out-of-state driver's licenses from being used for voting.
It's all part of a widespread Republican effort to restrict the voting rights of demographic groups that tend to vote Democratic. Blacks, Hispanics, the poor and the young, who are more likely to support President Obama, are disproportionately represented in the 21 million people without government IDs. On Friday, the Justice Department, finally taking action against these abuses, blocked the new voter ID law in South Carolina.
Republicans usually don't want to acknowledge that
their purpose is to turn away voters, especially when race is involved,
so they invented an explanation, claiming that stricter ID laws are
necessary to prevent voter fraud. In fact, there is almost no voter fraud in America to prevent.
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