Ninety-one years ago, American women won the legal right to vote. Forty-eight years ago, African American men and women reclaimed their voting rights from the Voting Rights Act of 1965. But while we celebrate these major victories, many Americans are unaware that their voting rights are again being threatened. Women, African Americans, senior citizens, and college students are especially at risk of losing their right to vote.
This year, thirty-four states, including Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts, have considered legislation that would either initiate new voter ID laws or would tighten existing voting requirements. The legislation is intended to eliminate voter fraud; by requiring voters to show photo identification, supporters say voter fraud can be entirely eradicated from the polls. Opponents of the legislation, however, say requiring government-issued photo identification at the polls limit voting rights more than it will combat voter fraud.
Many American women change their last names, whether through marriage, divorce, or other various legal or creative reasons. According to a report from Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, only sixty-six percent of voting-age women have government-issued photo identification with their current legal name. This requires thousands of women to obtain special legal certification proving their identity before elections. But many low-income women or single mothers may have limited time and finances, leaving them without updated identification and therefore, the right to vote.
Similarly, the new voter ID laws would bar transgender people from voting. Like women, current legal names and the names printed on government-issued photo identification may not match up, giving poll workers the venue to deny a trans person from voting.
Because fourteen of the states considering the legislation would require government-issued photo identification, rather than any sort of valid photo ID, many college students in those states would also be denied their right to vote.
How will these new voter ID laws impact Emerson students? According to the National Conference of State Legislature, Massachusetts has multiple bills pending in joint committee. Of the thirteen bills, twelve would require photo identification in order to vote. Executive director of Common Cause Massachusetts Pam Wilmot says the Massachusetts voter ID laws would mostly affect African Americans and senior citizens as eleven percent of African Americans and eighteen percent of senior citizens don’t have a valid photo ID. Luckily, Governor Deval Patrick has echoed her opposition. “I am not interested and will not sign anything that makes it harder to vote,” he told reporters.