Proposal: Require Photo Identification to Vote
Pro/Con Summary
PRO:
CON:
Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/28/us/politics/conservative-justices-voice-skepticism-on-voting-law.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2012/10/02/the-pennsylvania-voter-id-fight-explained/
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-08-30/politics/35491521_1_type-of-ballot-integrity-voter-id-law-republican-controlled-texas-legislature
http://www.thenation.com/blog/169652/federal-court-texas-voter-id-law-violates-voting-rights-act
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/07/voter-id-laws-charts-maps
http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnwasik/2012/11/06/voter-fraud-a-massive-anti-democratic-deception/
- Fraudulent votes threaten the validity of elections.
- Laws requiring citizens to present photo identification to vote will ensure the integrity of every ballot.
- While critics say that photo ID laws restrict voting access to the poor and people of color, a PEW research study shows that an overwhelming majority of Latinos support the measure.
- Federal courts may have deemed certain photo ID laws in violation of the 1965 Voting Rights Act (VRA), but they did so unfairly. States need to ensure the validity of their elections, and voter ID laws are a promising way of doing so. Moreover, Section Five of the VRA unfairly submits certain counties in specific states to additional scrutiny before they are allowed to change their voting laws. This section is unjust, as the extra burden should be applied to all states or none at all.
CON:
- Instead of increasing the integrity of American elections, implementing Voter ID legislation would make electoral outcomes less legitimate.
- Fraudulent votes play an insignificant role in American elections: there are so few they cannot affect electoral outcomes.
- Laws requiring citizens to present photo identification to vote would place an unnecessary barrier to voting that would disproportionately affect the poor, the elderly, and people of color.
- Proponents of voter ID laws likely are aware of their futility and adverse consequences on voting access. Because voter ID laws would overwhelmingly disenfranchise Democratic Party supporters, Republicans have a political interest in passing the statutes. After Pennsylvania passed its voter ID law in 2012, the state’s House Majority Leader, Mike Turzai, was recorded saying, “Voter ID, which is going to allow Governor Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania: done.”
Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/28/us/politics/conservative-justices-voice-skepticism-on-voting-law.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2012/10/02/the-pennsylvania-voter-id-fight-explained/
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-08-30/politics/35491521_1_type-of-ballot-integrity-voter-id-law-republican-controlled-texas-legislature
http://www.thenation.com/blog/169652/federal-court-texas-voter-id-law-violates-voting-rights-act
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/07/voter-id-laws-charts-maps
http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnwasik/2012/11/06/voter-fraud-a-massive-anti-democratic-deception/