Vote NO on Minnesota's Voter Photo ID
- by: Susan V
- recipient: Minnesota State Legislature
Minnesota is trying to restrict voting to only those carrying a government-issued photo ID.
If passed, the bill would create the most restrictive voter photo ID requirement in the country, even more so than in Mississippi, says The UpTake's executive producer Michael McIntee.
The provision would not only create a burden for minorities and the elderly in obtaining usable IDs, but it would result in many same-day registration voters having to cast provisional ballots.
State Republicans claim the requirement would curb voter fraud, a concern without historical basis, but one Democrats say can be more easily and less costly alleviated, nonetheless, through use of electronic poll books..
What this amendment would do, certainly, is discourage who knows how many legitimate voters from practicing the most valuable of all our Constitutional rights.
Tell Minnesota to keep Jim Crow in the past. Vote NO on the Photo ID Amendment.
We, the undersigned, agree with Minnesota lawmaker Rena Moran that the proposed Voter ID Amendment looks like a 21st Century Jim Crow law.
Besides being vague and ambiguous, it places upon the voting population, many of them from poor minority groups and/or living in remote areas, an unfair burden to obtain official photo IDs at their expense.
Under this oppressive bill, anyone who shows up to vote without the ID would have to travel to the county seat and pay extra to obtain one within the 10 days required to make their provisional vote count. It would eliminate the vouching system and therefore other voters who don't have permanent residences yet established, as well as putting an extra burden on elderly people who no longer have drivers' licenses. Other states have made exceptions for special situations, but not Minnesota's bill.
In other words, Minnesota's ID amendment would interfere with the public's freedom to exercise their Constitutional right to vote.
Democrats and others are opposing this bill, not only because of its unfair restriction of voting rights, but because they believe it's unnecessary. However, they say, if the government is going to require IDs for voting, then it should be responsible for all associated costs. This, some suggest, could be done with an electronic, or picture poll book, which would allow a citizen without a picture ID to get one made at the polls before voting, at no expense or inconvenience to voters. Furthermore, this process would be far less expensive for the government than printing out IDs.
Given the fact that there have been no documented cases of real voter fraud in Minnesota's history, there's absolutely no excuse for this freedom-restrictive, Jim-Crow-like legislation in the first place.
We request that the Senate reject this bill and urge voters to do so as well.
Thank you for your attention to this very serious matter.
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