In 2002, with the intention of updating election technology, hampering voter fraud, and increasing faith in the electoral system, President George W. Bush signed into law the Help America Vote Act (Gerken 14). Since the implementation of this act, controversial voter identification laws have begun springing up all over the country. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, “thirty-one states require all voters to show ID before voting at the polls. In fifteen of these, the ID must include a photo of the voter; in the remaining sixteen, non-photo forms of ID are acceptable” (Voter Identification Requirements). In 2005 Indiana lawmakers passed one of the strictest voter identification laws in the country requiring voters to present an unexpired photo identification card issued by the state or federal government before gaining access to vote (Barreto, Nuño, and Sanchez 111). The constitutionality of this law was challenged, and it eventually ended up in the United States Supreme Court. In Crawford v. Marion County Election Board, the Supreme Court upheld the requirement by a 6-3 decision thus paving the way for other states to enact such laws (Vock and Gramlich). What is so controversial about these laws that a Supreme Court decision was required? As with most contentious issues in politics, the debate over these laws are strictly divided down partisan lines with Democrats strongly opposed and Republicans heavily in favor of their implementation. Opponents believe these laws are unfair and negatively impact certain segments of voters who may not possess or have the means to obtain the required identification such as the poor, elderly, disabled, and minorities. As this category of voters is more likely to vot...
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Mycoff, Jason D., Michael W. Wagner, and David C. Wilson. “The Empirical Effects of Voter-ID Laws: Present or Absent?” PS: Political Science & Politics 42.01 (2009): 121-26. JSTOR. Web. 09 Feb. 2012.
Sobel, Richard, and Robert Ellis Smith. "Voter-ID Laws Discourage Participation, Particularly among Minorities, and Trigger a Constitutional Remedy in Lost Representation." PS: Political Science & Politics 42.01 (2009): 107-110. JSTOR. Web. 08 Feb. 2012.
Vock, Daniel C., and John Gramlich. “With Justices’ OK, Voter ID Moves Ahead.” stateline.org. Stateline, 29 Apr. 2008. Web. 11 Feb. 2012.
“Voter Identification Requirements.” ncsl.org. National Conference of State Legislatures, 08 Feb. 2012. Web. 11 Feb. 2012.
Weiser, Wendy R., and Lawrence Norden. “Voting Law Changes in 2012.” brennancenter.org. Brennan Center For Justice, 03 Oct. 2011. Web. 08 Feb. 2012.
The voter ID issue starts with certain laws that, in the US, require that a person show a form of official ID before they are allowed to register to vote. This issue has split both Republicans and Democrats. According to Kenneth Jost, “republicans say [voter-ID laws] are needed to prevent fraud and protect the integrity of elections. Democrats say the laws are not needed and are being pushed in order to reduce voting among groups that skew Democratic in elections especially Latinos and African Americans” (Jost, p. 171). Both of these perspectives are valid, and with an open mind, can both sides have important points about the validity and inclusion of elections. On one hand, it is crucial to prevent fraud and keep the elections free of error, otherwise the outcome could be an unfair ruling. On the other side of the argument, voter-ID laws can cause discrimination and prevent people from voting, also
Voting is one of the citizens’ rights living in a country. In the past, not everyone can vote. Voting used to be for only white American men. However, our ancestors fought for that rights. Eventually, any American who are older than eighteen can vote, despite their race or gender. In addition, voter turnout is used to keep track of the voting. It is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election. Unfortunately, the voter turnout has been decreasing over time, and it means that there are less and fewer people who actually show up and vote. This essay will discuss the voter turnout in Harris County, Texas.
Hasen, Richard. "Voter Suppression's New Pretext." the New York Times 16 November 2013: A- 19. Print.
Loewen, P. J., Milner, H., & Hicks, B. M. (1997). Does Compulsory Voting Lead To More Informed and Engaged Citizens? An Experimental Test. Canadian Journal of Political Science, 41(3), 655-672. Retrieved from http://journals1.scholarsportal.info.proxy.bib.uottawa.ca/tmp/44514596344978336.pdf
The new law has seen multiple, willing and able, voters turned away at the polling station for unacceptable or expired photo IDs. It also turns away people low on income, mainly because of the cost of photo IDs or the cost to replace vital documents, like birth certificates. With the implication of the new voter ID law, it is certain that it will have an implication on voter turnouts at the polls, mainly seen by minority and elderly voters. Those, like justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, prove that the new voter ID law has very lasting and unfair effects on voters who are deemed “unfavorable.” Even a U.S. district judge in Corpus Christi ruled that the law “constitutes an unconstitutional poll tax” and “has an impermissible discriminatory effect against Hispanics and African-Americans, and was imposed with an unconstitutional discriminatory purpose.” African-Americans and Latinos are more likely to lack appropriate photo IDs, disenfranchising approximately 600,000 voters. Even if the state offers a free photo ID, these types voters, some of who are in the low-income tax bracket, may not be able to get their hands on necessary documents, such as a birth certificate which cost around $23, to obtain one. The new ID laws can prove to be a large hurdle for multiple types of people, causing a lot of stress to people who just want to perform their civic
Ten states put voter identification restriction laws into place, restrictions targeting the minority, the poor and the elderly vote. To be quite honest, it’s clear that these voter restrictions are control tactics implemented predominantly by republicans, continuing to be an issue in the most recent election. Although in North Carolina, Wisconsin, Kansas, and Texas court rulings blocked certain new restrictions, fourteen states remain on the list of states with restrictions, including Wisconsin, Kansas and Texas. "We cannot ignore the recent evidence that, because of race, the legislature enacted one of the largest restrictions of the franchise in modern North Carolina history,” Judge Diana Motz wrote. In order for votes to be counted equally, all citizens must be allowed the opportunity to even be eligible.
The “Election and voting: Voter Identification” is a debate between three sides with different opinions about the voter identification law. Each side is represented by Chandler Davidson, Hans von Spakovsky, and Edward Foley. This debate is about whether the voter identification laws should be in place or not. Davidson is against the voting id laws stating its historical context and how it will affect the minorities, older and student during the election time. Spakovsky supports the law saying “the law would prevent voter fraud” and make elections strong and fair. Third, position held by Foley is that voter fraud is a problem and voter id law would help prevent it, but we need to make sure that everyone will have an easy access to the designated places.
There have been several occasions throughout America’s history where voter fraud has changed the outcome of an election. For example, “a 2010 Kansas election ended with a one vote margin where 50 of the winning side votes were cast illegally by citizens of Somalia (Hans Von Spankovsky).” Another example is when “a 1996 congressional race in California was almost overturned by hundreds of votes cast illegally by noncitizens (Hans Von Spankovsky).” Voter ID laws are a sensible precaution to voting. Voter id laws eliminate all forms of voter fraud and restore integrity to elections, Government issued photo ids are inexpensive and easy to obtain, and voter id laws don’t restrict the right to vote and restore confidence to voters.
Voter ID laws in the United States have begun to create controversy since the beginning of its adaptations in the early 2000’s. Voter ID laws in the United States is a law that requires U.S. citizens to have a special form of identification in order to vote in an election. The idea with Voter ID laws is that the state must make sure that the laws do not pose any sort of burden on the voters. These laws have been proposed in order to stop voting fraud. However, the institution of Voter ID laws have made trouble in states, including Texas, regarding to the various amount of identification requirements needed.
Legal constraints-scholars interested in the variation in turnout across the American states have focused on laws regulating registration and voting. The most important of these laws restrictions on who may vote, such as the poll tax, Property ownership requirements, or the outright exclusion of African Americans and women. Although these restrictions disappeared some time ago, other barriers to registration and voting persisted, and some remain in effect today. However, nearly all of these restrictions have been changed by amendments to constitution, state and national laws, rulings by the U.S Department of Justice, and judicial decisions.
IDs as a valid form of identification, nor can out of state students vote without a valid
Over the recent year’s American voters have brought back a way of voting that was used during the country’s old age of existence, this rediscovered act is known as early voting. Early voting started in the early 1990s, though the outcome has not had such a high consistency over the years it is still recommended to help the Election Day process in the country. Since voter turnout is not entirely consistent due to the process being constantly shortened by state laws, the argument against early voting is that it is a waste of taxpayers’ money, opponents believe it is ineffective. Although that is not the case, in his 2016 blog article, “A Brief History of Early Voting,” Michael McDonald inform readers on the brief history of early voting as he states how the rates of voters who has cast their ballots before election day has increased over the years, “from less than a tenth to about a third” (qtd. in McDonald) since the 1990s. This proves to show why the money being spent on this act is not simply being wasted. Although early voting has
The 2016 election will be hit with numerous voting restrictive laws making it harder to vote for the general populous. There are 31 states that enforce government identification cards prior to voting. Around 11% percent of people able to vote don 't have a government identification card according to Democratic U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge. That 's around 35 million people unable to vote due to the enforcement of government identification cards. These people include and are not exclusive to the elderly not driving any more, people without permanent addresses, and transgender who have non matching gender to their identification cards. Of those 31 states that enforce government identification cards prior to voting, 8 states require strict photo identification. It is estimated that at least 16 million people able to vote do not have eligible government photo identification cards, according to the brennancenter. Texas alone has 600,000 people that do not fit this category. The general populous has taken a hit due to votin...
A new strategy has come into view recently, which may result in actually reversing the trend of increasing the electorate outright. So far in 2011, 14 states have enacted 19 new laws and 2 executive orders placing new restrictions on voting and registration, which could diminish voter turnout in 2012 (Weiser and Norden 2011). These laws cover a wide array of issues; ranging from restrictive voter registration and voter id laws, to even reducing the days which people were able to vote. The Brennan Center for Jus...
National ID cards are applicable in countries all around the world, however, we can say that there exists a huge debate about their purpose and implications that it may provide. This debate has been around for as long as ID cards have been issued, due to different perspectives that people have towards them. For this reason, we have 2 big groups; those who are against ID cards and those who are for them. Since we are in a democratic society, everyone is allowed to have its own unique way of thinking, so it has been mentioned and talked from a lot of people, including writers. William Safire is one of the writers that will be mentioned in this essay as well as Alan Dershowitz. They both state their own perception of ID cards with arguments for