Constitutionality of Voter Id Laws

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Voter ID Laws

Voter ID laws require “voters to present a valid form of identification that is congruent with the specific legislation” of the state in which they reside before voting. As of now, thirty-four states have passed legislation requiring voters to present some form of identification at the polls. “These forms of identification range in degree, from requiring a strict photo ID” to requesting identification without the requirement of a picture. “Some states do not require any documentation to vote” (NCSL).1 Voter ID cards can legally be attained by any United States citizen, yet controversy “regarding the constitutionality of Voter ID Laws has arisen due to the cost of voter ID’s” (Identification Cards).2 Concerns associated with attaining ID’s include transportation to a Department of Motor Vehicles where identification is issued, limited office hours and long wait times in certain DMV’s, and the cost of the actual identification or the cost of the documents required to acquire identification. With regard to the Constitution, the Voting Rights Act, and the theories behind them, requiring identification at the point of voting cannot be justified.
The 15th and 24th Amendments provide insight as to why the Constitution does not support Voter ID Laws. “The 15th Amendment prohibits the denial of the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude” (Primary Documents in American History).3 “The 24th Amendment prohibits the revocation of voting rights due to the inability to provide payment of a poll tax” (24th Amendment).4 “The case Guinn v. United States found grandfather clause exemptions to literacy tests to be unconstitutional. Though the Oklahoma Constitution appeared to treat all voters eq...

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... ruling overturning a Voter ID Law directly reveals that the basic elements of representative democracy and civil liberties are not in correspondence with these laws.
The Constitution, Voting Rights Act, civil liberties within the United States, and the idea of representative democracy render Voter ID Laws an infringement upon the rights of a United States Citizen. As many court cases, amendments to the constitution, and laws have indicated, Voter ID Laws prevent many Americans from assuming their civil duty to vote. In the event that voter identification could be distributed to all Americans completely free of charge and without the burden of transportation to a designated location, these laws could potentially be permissible. Nevertheless this is currently not the case, and therefore Voter ID Laws remain contradictions to the ideas of American civil liberties.

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