Students sue over Tennessee voter ID law

[uhnope]

Source: The Tennessean

A student organization filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday claiming Tennessee's voter identification law violates the rights of college students by not allowing them to use school IDs to vote.

The lawsuit comes after a four-year debate, protests and multiple failed attempts in the Tennessee General Assembly to allow use of the identification.

"For four years, the Tennessee General Assembly has rejected every attempt to add college student IDs to the voter ID list, systematically shutting young voters out of the political process just as they become eligible to vote," Jon Sherman, a staff attorney for the Fair Elections Legal Network, said in a statement.

The Fair Elections Legal Network, a national voting rights organization, and Nashville law firm Barrett Johnston Martin & Garrison, filed the lawsuit on behalf of the Nashville Student Organizing Committee, a student-run social justice and civil rights organization.

Read more: http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2015/03/04/students-lawsuit-tennessee-voter-id-law/24388831/

[DirkGently]

1. Excellent. n/t

[KeepItReal]

2. Good on them. Need more of these lawsuits.

eom

[Panich52]

3. GOP fears democracy. Hope students teach 'em what democracy is all about

[freshwest]

4. Voting in Texas: A Handgun License is OK, a Student ID is Not

By Taegan Goddard - Oct. 20, 2014

Rebecca Leber: “Texans casting a ballot on Monday, when early voting begins, will need to show one of seven forms of photo ID. A concealed handgun license is okay, but a student ID isn’t. The Supreme Court on Saturday allowed Texas to go forward with this controversial voter ID.”

As Ian Millhiser argued at ThinkProgress: “If a confused voter brings an ID to the polls that they do not need to have, they will still get to cast a ballot. But if the same voter mistakenly forgets their ID (or fails to obtain one) because they were confused and believed that their state’s voter ID law was not in effect, then they will be disenfranchised.”

“Actual voter fraud, which is the problem that Republican legislation supposedly addresses, is difficult to find… The consequences of voter ID laws, on the other hand, are much easier to track… Existing ID requirements reduced turnout in some states during the last presidential election, particularly among young and black voters. Now, imagine the impact is even larger, because it is spread over the 33 states that now require some form of photo ID to vote. (And) costs of acquiring the needed ID ranged between $14.50 to $58.50 for 17 of the states.”


http://wonkwire.rollcall.com/2014/10/20/voting-texas-handgun-license-ok-student-id/

The DOJ kept fighting this in TX in 2014 after going after them in 2013:

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/attorney-general-holder-statement-federal-court-ruling-against-texas-voter-identification-law

And it was a day to day struggle. Pardon me for some of the links:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/texas-voter-id/

May the students and youth prevail. It is their future being voted upon.

[Gothmog]

5. This is great news