Sunday, November 25, 2007

Modern Day Disenfranchisement - Part 1

Funny how the battleground states for picture ID in order to vote are mostly in the south. I'm sure it is just an accident of geography. While poll taxes were outlawed as part of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

Federal District Judge W. Allen Pepper in Mississippi says that party affiliation and voter identification rules must be implemented in time for the 2009 elections.

Robin Carnahan, Secretary of State for Missouri is currently challenging a law requiring voter identification in the courts. She is joined by Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, Vermont Secretary of State Deborah Markowitz, former Georgia Secretary of State Cathy Cox and former Maryland Secretary of State John T. Willis.

We all know Hans von Spakovsky's role in Georgia and Arizona. Now he is being nominated for a permanent position on the Federal Elections Commission. The Georgia law was especially egregious in that the ID cards could only be purchased for $20 from the Department of Motor Vehicles offices. Arizona in 2004 passed Proposition 200 which had stringent voter identification rules attached.

Finally, there is a report on the impact of these laws upon Latin, Black and Asian voters. The report was written by three professors in Washington, California, and New Mexico. It is relatively short, but well worth the time.

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