http://campusprogress.org/articles/new_evidence_of_alec_connections_in_all_successful_voter_id_legislatio/Research conducted by Campus Progress reveals that every single one of the five states that recently passed Voter ID legislation had American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) members as co-sponsors of the legislation. ALEC is a DC-based non-profit organization that brings together state legislators and corporations to promote conservative policies.
The claimed intent of these restrictive Voter ID laws, explained here, is to prevent voter impersonation fraud. However, there are barely any cases of such fraud. Instead, these laws make it harder for young people, people of color, low-income people, the disabled, and older Americans to vote. Kansas, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin have all passed Voter ID requirements this cycle, joining Georgia and Indiana, which had already passed such restrictions.
-snipping a list that names the state legislator co-sponsors in Texas, Wisconsin, South Carolina, Tennessee and Kansas-
Looking at the first section of definitions of Pennsylvania’s proposed Voter ID legislation, HB 934, it is possible to see just how similar it is to ALEC’s model legislation
, which was first disclosed by Campus Progress. The definitions are substantively identical, there is very similar wording, and the requirements are in the exact same order.
In other states, due to pre-existing state law, the order of the text of the legislation may have varied but the content is substantively very similar. This information demonstrates that ALEC’s influence encompasses all stages of the war on voting. From providing the model legislation, to spreading it to a variety of conservative legislators at conferences, to having its members actually propose the legislation, ALEC is streamlining the passage of the harmful Voter ID legislation.
-snip-Kudos to Campus Progress for their continued reporting on ALEC.
More information about this legislation and other harm being done by the corporate-front group ALEC can be found in the long compilation topic on the
American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).
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