by Keith Ellison
Last month, Dorothy Cooper, a 96 year-old African-American woman from Chattanooga, Tennessee, went to the ballot box to vote. Dorothy was born before women had the right to vote and when Jim Crow laws kept most African-Americans disenfranchised. Despite this, Dorothy has not missed a single election since 1960. Like many seniors, Dorothy has a Social Security card, a local photo ID issued by the Chatanooga Police Department—and a voter registration card.
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Dorothy is not alone. In Indiana, 12 nuns were denied the right to vote in the last presidential election because they didn't have "updated" identification...These are not isolated incidents. They are part of the largest effort to disenfranchise voters since the Jim Crow era, almost exclusively targeting youth and minority voters.. A recent study by the Brennan Center for Justice estimates that the Republican effort could make it harder for more than five million eligible voters to cast ballots in 2012.
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Groups promoting these laws, such as the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), argue there's rampant voter fraud. Oddly enough this "fraud" seems to be occurring only within historically Democratic voting blocs like minorities and students. Yet ALEC and others have no problem squashing these groups' voting rights--or the rights of elderly voters. Routinely issued student IDs won't be accepted in some states--including my home state of Minnesota. The elderly, non-drivers, and millions of others will have to get identification. This sounds like a simple process, but imagine an 80 year old grandmother who has never driven and uses a wheelchair going through the process of getting non-drivers ID. If her social security card is accepted identification for her benefits, why isn't it good enough to identify her for voting?
For these reasons, I am introducing two bills today to curb voter suppression. The Same Day Registration Act would require states to provide for same day voter registration for a federal election. The Voter Access Protection Act would make sure election officials cannot require photo identification in order to cast a vote or register to vote.
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