Wasserman Schultz: King fought for voting rights

[struggle4progress]

Aug. 28, 2013
by Debbie Wasserman Schultz
USATODAY

... To truly honor the anniversary of the March on Washington, we must renew our commitment to making King's dream real ...

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was designed to eradicate these Jim Crow laws. It identified jurisdictions that had a history of using tactics to limit voting by minorities, and it required that before those states enact changes in their voting practices, those changes would be reviewed by federal authorities ...

Even before that Supreme Court decision, we had already become acquainted with the modern version of voter suppression: burdensome voter ID laws, limiting early voting and absentee ballots, and unnecessary purging of voter rolls. Their proponents claim that the intent of these laws is to prevent voter fraud, but the truth is these measures address a problem that does not exist. For many voters, obtaining the ID needed to cast their vote is difficult, so these changes would create a significant obstacle to voting for those who do not have a driver's license or other form of identification. Studies have shown that as many as 11% of eligible voters do not have government issued IDs and a disproportionate percent of those without IDs are people of color, seniors, people with disabilities, students and low-income voters ...

Sitting on the sidelines, waiting for something to happen, is not an option. Laws that make voting harder are a blemish on our democracy, a wound that should not be left to fester ...

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/usatoday/article/2711223

[Thinkingabout]

1. One of theacceptable forms of idenity should be a recript of income tax filing or receipt

Of Social Security check. Otherwise voter suppression is being passed in states with Republican governors and legislations. This is a shame. One of the rights citizens should have is representation, no tax without representation and the bully GOP'S are trying to stop this.