By State Representative, Leon D. Young
Leon D. Young
The New Year signals the start of new things and new beginnings. Some of these things will be welcome events, like finding a new job or the arrival of a new child. However, other forthcoming events will be far less desirable and much more devastating, like the advent of Wisconsin ’s new voter ID requirement.
Wisconsin was one of 32 states nationwide in which legislators have debated creating more restrictive voter ID rules in 2011. The strict voter laws have passed in six states – Alabama, Kansas, South Carolina, Texas, Tennessee and Wisconsin. Voting rights watchdogs say this new slate of laws and bills are of a different scale than those seen in previous years and will clearly disenfranchise countless voters.
Republicans have been totally disingenuous in trying to make the case that our form of democracy is currently under attack by the rampant voter fraud that now exists in our system. To say that this completely preposterous would indeed be an understatement.
Let’s examine the facts. Since 1997, there have been 311 substantiated cases of voter fraud out of 593 million votes cast. That’s right you heard me: 311 actual cases of voter deception out of nearly 600 million ballots cast. (This means that the actual percentage of voter fraud is a non-existent 0.00005 percent).
As you can see, since there isn’t any real voter fraud then what is the GOP really up to? It’s all about presidential politics and denying people of color the right to vote. In response to demographic change and record turnout by voters of color in 2008, the GOP’s new strategy is to disenfranchise as many “marginal voters” as possible.
Previous studies have shown a surprising number of eligible voters nationwide don’t have state or federallyissued IDs. Eleven percent of Americans – about 21 million people – don’t have government-issued IDs, and the vast majority of them are people of color, senior citizens, and younger voters. The exact numbers are telling: 25 percent of African Americans – 5.5 million people – don’t have IDs, and neither do 15 percent of those earning annual salaries of $35,000 or less, 18 percent of people 65 and older, and 20 percent of voters age 18-29.
From all indications, the battle for the White House in 2012 is rumored to be a nip-and-tuck affair. Disenfranchising hundreds of thousands of eligible voters is the GOP’s blueprint to defeat Barack Obama and, in their view, take back this country.
But, in truth, denying eligible voters their constitutional right to vote (through voter suppression) is the REAL voter fraud.