Voter Restrictions
Since 2010, many state legislators in the United States are setting voter restriction laws that create restraints, making it harder to vote. Although critics argue that voter restrictions limit voter fraud, the restrictions are harmful to American Democracy.
Voting restrictions were created in order to limit voter fraud, which can cause people to believe that their votes are being suppressed. Voter fraud is “the intentional corruption of the electoral process by the voter” (Minnite). Some examples of voter fraud are voting multiple times, voting with a false name, or registering to vote if you are not eligible. Voter suppression is different from voter fraud. Voter suppression is a variety of schemes that aim at lowering the number of voters in one party. Real examples of voter suppression are the Jim Crow Laws in the early twentieth century; Jim Crow laws created poll taxes and literacy tests, which made it hard for the poor minorities to vote. In much the same way, today’s laws passed by Republicans cause a burden on many minorities. Voter restrictions prevent many disadvantaged people from voting.
One of the main restrictions states implemented for voting is the voter ID. After the Republicans introduced restriction laws, many states now require a voter to present some form of identification in order to vote. In Voter Identification Requirements, Wendy Underhill wrote, “Some states request or require voters to show an identification document that has a photo on it… Other states accept non-photo identification” (Underhill). For example, states such as Georgia, Indiana, and Kansas, require a photo ID; These states ask for driver’s license, state-issued identification card, military ID, and other forms of ID. Other states, such as Arizona, North Dakota, and Ohio, accept the use of bank statements with name and address.
Those supporting these new restrictions argue that voter identification laws reduce the risks of voter fraud. In the National Review, John Fund states, “Average voters understand that it’s only common sense to require ID because of how easy it is for people to pretend they are someone else” (Fund). Using an ID prevents people from voting as someone else. Given that most people must show IDs when cashing a check, purchasing an item with a credit card, or traveling by plane, everyone should have IDs. Therefore, people arguing for Voter restrictions believe that the restrictions to vote are not harsh since everyone has IDs. Although many people do have the ID that critics argue about, those IDs may not work to vote in elections because they do not prove American citizenship or because students, elderly, and low-income voters cannot obtain identification cards.
Groups mostly affected by these laws were minorities. According to a recent study by The Washington Post, “Hispanics are affected the most: Turnout is 7.1 percentage points lower in general elections and 5.3 points lower in primaries… White turnout is largely unaffected” (Hajnal). In other words, Hispanics are most affected by the voter ID laws; They are voting less than before the laws were implemented. The voter turnout is what we expect, given that minorities are less likely to have valid identification. This has a disproportionate effect on minorities, so there is a turnout gap between whites and hispanics. In another article about Voter IDs from The Washington Post, Sari Horwitz stated that “Many of the residents struggling to obtain a valid photo ID are elderly and poor…” (Horwitz). Those residents have such a hard time getting the correct identification documents, they eventually