From the birth of our nation, voting for representatives has been the most inalienable right of the American people. But now, for the first time in years, this right is being jeopardized. An increasingly popular state-wide ruling is requiring government-issued photo ID to be displayed at voting facilities. This law is unconstitutional in a number of ways, the first and foremost being that it discriminates against marginalized people, who are less likely to have their governmental papers in orders. These regulations are inherently classist and racist, and should be repealed as soon as possible.
One issue with the voter ID regulations is how glaringly corrupt they are in nature. A study performed by political scientist Erin O'Brien and University of Massachusetts Boston sociologist Keith Bentele shows that states implementing the laws are overwhelmingly republican run, and statistically likely to be swing states in upcoming elections. This also ties in to the classism issue: people of color, trans individuals, people of low socio-economic standings and LGBT+ people are all less likely to vote for Republican candidates (read: rich, straight, white, cisgendered men), and are historically less likely to have accurate governmental papers. This is a direct affront to the Democratic demographic, and a blatant ploy to keep privileged people in power. These enactments are a great deal more insidious and unscrupulous than they seem.
These laws also create issues for college students who are eligible to vote. College students often attend schools out of their states of origin, and forget to change their voting addresses, which renders them unable to cast ballots under the new rulings. The new rulings also do not accept student IDs ad valid identification, which hinders students' voting capabilities considerably. This is problematic for a number of reasons, the first of which being that college is a time when Americans establish their political identities. If voting is impossible for a student during college, it's likely that they will continue not to vote habitually. As of 2012, only 57.5% of the population voted, and cutting that number down further would be disastrous. After all, and small sample sizes heed inaccurate results. Another issue with the regulations' effect on college students is the fact that college students tend towards liberal ideologies. For many, college is a time to experiment with radical beliefs, and students' votes reflect this. Taking college students' vote away is yet another way to narrow the voting pool down to middle aged, middle class white people, a demographic that is overwhelmingly likely to vote Republican.
Now, some may say that voter ID regulations are the only way to effectively combat voter fraud. It is true that states implementing ID laws had higher rates for allegations of voter fraud in 2004, but evidence for these cases was scant and the various elections' outcomes remained unchanged time and again. And really, with only 100 federal prosecutions and 50 state convictions of voter fraud in 10 years across the entire country, there isn't substantial reason to tamper with citizens' constitutional rights. (Or at least, no reasons that aren't disgustingly corrupt.) Others argue that these laws are putting the US on level with the rest of the world, citing the fact that most other democratically governed country requires photo identification to vote. This may be true, but these republics are in vastly different situations than our own. They require ID for a host of reasons, either unabashed corruption, truly rampant voter fraud, or a government competent enough to uniformally supply citizens with the necessary paperwork. It leads you to wonder if these arguments aren't fact based so much as they are colored by bias and driven by a need to justify one's prejudiced beliefs.
Ultimately, the lesson that we as a people must learn from this is that we must fight for our rights. People are getting into the streets and protesting, and the 2012 elections were better populated than ever. When our rights are jeopardized, we fight for them. It's what humans do. These rulings should also teach us to look more critically at the world at large. At first glance, requiring ID to vote seems innocuous. It's only when one considers the factors that go into this law that they become incensed. This applies to many things in current society, from jokes on television to Supreme Court rulings. By keeping our wits about us and standing up to the system when necessary, citizens can make America a more just and less prejudiced place, to repealing voter regulations and beyond.
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