Voting and Institutional Discrimination

          Because the midterm elections are today, it’s only fitting to explain why voting is a vehicle for institutional discrimination. Like the War on Drugs, Voter ID laws disproportionately affect minorities and today, 30 states require a certain type of identification to vote (2014 Voter ID Laws, Long Distance Voter). Unfortunately, these laws are not the only practice silencing minority voters, but wait times to vote, too, have been altered based on race. In the 2012 election, African Americans waited 23 minutes and Hispanic’s waited 19 minutes while White’s waited only 12 minutes to vote. (Even Without Voter ID Laws, Minority Voters Face More Hurdles to Casting Ballots, Mencimer).  A study done by the Brennan Center for Justice showed that, when it came to Election Day, a high percentage of minority communities had fewer voting booths and poll workers thus leading to long lines.  The graph below shows average wait times based on race (Even Without Voter ID Laws, Minority Voters Face More Hurdles to Casting Ballots, Mencimer).

          Republicans have driven the demand for Voter ID laws based on the premise of preventing voter impersonation (Is It Voter Fraud or Voter Suppression in 2014, Flanagin). A study to discover the amount of voter fraud from 2002-2007 done by the Bush Administration, “turned up virtually no evidence of any organized effort to skew federal elections” (In 5-Year Effort, Scant Evidence of Voter Fraud, Lipton). The Bush concerns proved baseless, but did nothing to deter the recent passage of legislation that is unnecessary because there is, “virtually no evidence…to skew federal elections” (In 5-Year Effort, Scant Evidence of Voter Fraud, Lipton). Absentee ballots are the conduits of voter fraud and most current Voter ID laws have no ability prevent fraudulent absentee votes. 

          The real reason for these laws is a Republican intention to thwart the number of minority and low-income voters because of their historical Democratic Party support. Texas has arguably the most severe voter ID law in the country.  In order to vote, it mandates the presence of a valid government-issued photo ID. (How is Texas voter ID affecting poor, minorities? Center tracks impact).  Because it costs money to obtain a proper ID, it is thus targeted at low income individuals, the highest percentage being minorities.  

Source: Coalition of Human Needs

       In the United States, 21 million people do not have a government issued ID-- 25% of them are African-Americans compared to only 8% of Whites (Voting Rights, ACLU). These laws promote the notion that one person’s vote is worth more than another’s and because they mostly affect African Americans, they further contribute to the racial gap, despite the Voting Rights Act which protects the rights of minorities to vote and eliminated various voting barriers. Once again, we have obstacles which will reduce minority voting numbers. Put simply, if you are able to afford a government issued ID, you can vote.  If you can’t afford one, you can’t vote. Economic status should never be a criterion for one’s right to cast a ballot.

Source: DNC

     These tactics are eerily familiar to ones used in the Reconstructionist era. While the 14^th amendment was adopted in 1868 giving African American men citizenship and protection under the law, Jim Crows laws sprung up to obstruct freedom for Blacks (What is Poll Tax, Stephenson). Attorney General Eric Holder was quick to equate voter ID laws to a poll tax, “We call those poll taxes.” In 1890, 147,000 Black people were eligible to voter in the Mississippi election but because voting cost money, only 9,000 were registered to vote. (Eric Holder calls voter ID a modern poll tax at NAACP convention, AP).  In Texas, 500,000 people cannot vote because of the law (500,000 People Didn’t Have ID to Vote, Ramsey). It is truly disgusting to see these parallels between the late 1800’s and today. We want to believe we have come so far in achieving racial equality, but these laws are a reminder how much work we have yet to do.