What Would Real Voting Reform Look Like?

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from YES! Magazine:



What Would Real Voting Reform Look Like?
We have to do more than block bad laws. We need real voting reform to expand the franchise for the 21st century.

by Elisabeth Genn
posted Apr 20, 2012


Since the start of 2011, a wave of restrictive voting laws has swept the country. This attack on voting rights is unprecedented, unjustifiable, and discriminatory in its effects.

Over the last few weeks, the Department of Justice and the courts have stepped in, blocking some of the laws that most clearly violate protected rights. But none of these victories is final. To win the broader battle for the right of every eligible American to vote, we need more than a good defense against bad laws. We need positive bipartisan reform to bring our outdated electoral system into the twenty-first century.

Playing defense

Let’s start with the restrictive voting laws, and where they stand. Since the beginning of 2011, 14 states have passed, or are on the verge of passing, restrictive voting laws that have the potential to impact the 2012 election. The states—Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin, and West Virginia—represent 192 electoral votes, or 70 percent of the 270 needed to win the presidency. The new restrictions range from eliminating Sunday early voting (when Blacks and Latinos tend to vote in greater numbers) to imposing new burdens and potential penalties on groups that sign up voters. Most common of all are laws that require voters to produce specific kinds of government-issued photo ID before their votes can be counted.

Such laws have been justified under the theory that they will prevent “voter fraud,” even though a person is more likely to be struck by lightning than to commit voter impersonation fraud—and even though 11 percent of voting-age Americans lack the kinds of ID these states will now require. That percentage is significantly higher among students, the elderly, African-American and Hispanic voters, and the poor. These will be the people most likely to lose their right to vote under these laws. ................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.yesmagazine.org/people-power/what-would-real-voting-reform-look-like

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