Hooray.....a 21st Century Poll Tax

"Okay....so we'll replace the whiny broad with Alito and everything will be in place..."

On Monday, the Supreme Court handed down a ruling on the biggest voting rights case since the Bush v. Gore debacle around the 2000 Presidential election. The Roberts Court ruled, by a 6-3 margin, that states can require voters to produce photo identification without violating their constitutional rights. These are the kind of verdicts one can expect with a majority-conservative bloc on the Court, but it is disappointing to me personally to see Justice John Paul Stevens join the majority in upholding this ridiculous law.

Identification requirements for voting are currently in place in more than 20 states with varying degrees of specificity. This decision upheld an Indiana state law that requires a government-issued photo identification document, such as a driver's license or a passport, in order to vote. Republicans, who have pushed these voter ID laws across the country, say they will combat voter fraud. Democrats decry these laws as unnecessary and as having a disenfranchising effect on the poor, minorities, the elderly, the handicapped and other social classes who do not have easy access or funds to purchase photo identification. I side, of course, with the Democrats on this for the following reasons

1) "Voter fraud"....the Phantom Crime:
Care to take a guess how many voter impersonation cases were prosecuted in entire history of the state of Indiana? Zero. Zip. Nada. Hardly the "burning issue" that the Republicans make it out to be. Nationwide, out of the 120 federal prosecutions for voter fraud brought by the Bush Justice Department (which has made vote fraud one of its top priorities), there have been a grand total of 86 convictions for vote fraud between 2002 and 2006....during which period close to 400 million votes have been cast.

The Brennan Center For Justice, a non-partisan civil rights advocacy group, knocked down each of the allegations of voting fraud to show it is a phantom crime, one hardly worthy of state-level review, let alone the Supreme Court.

2) "Voter Fraud"...the last refuge of whiny Republicans who couldn't steal the election themselves:
But then, that is the Republican's M.O. - screaming "voter fraud" when they can't win an election legitimately at the polls. When asked for proof, they point to the well-worn myths of voter fraud in Chicago during the 1960 election. While this makes for a chuckle-worthy urban legend, the truth is that voter fraud was investigated and the findings of vote-count error (not fraud) fell short of reversing the results for either Nixon or Kennedy. Not to mention the embarassment of Republicans having to go back 48 years for proof of Democratic shenanigans in a national election. Everyone knows that, for the past half-century, no one has been able to lie, cheat and steal to win elections better than Republicans.

3) "Voter Fraud"....or the new Poll Tax
Republicans have tried for years to devise new methods to disenfranchise traditional Democratic voting blocs. From busting and weakening unions to fraud robo-calls to poor and minority areas to outright poll intimidation, Republicans have used the forces of thuggery and fraud to depress the Democratic vote in crucial contests. The newest cudgel used by Republicans to disenfranchise Democratic voters is the ID requirement.

This photo ID requirement to vote is nothing less than a 21st century poll tax or literacy test, a undue burden placed on the lower classes to deny them what is their right, not their privilege. Jeffrey Toobin explains further:

"So it will be in Indiana, where the law creates a series of onerous barriers to voting. Consider one: you can get a government photo I.D. by showing your birth certificate, but you can’t get a copy of your birth certificate unless you can produce certain official photo I.D.s. And, with up to twenty million Americans of voting age lacking government-issued identification, the matter of requiring photo I.D.s has broad implications. "

It's safe to assume that the folks reading this blog have either a driver's license or a passport or both. However, we must consider the millions in this country who have to take some form of public transport to work each day, who never travel outside of the country, who are paid in cash or do not have checking accounts, who do not have the ability to drive.....in short, the classes in our society who do not have the luxury to stand in line at the DMV and pay $50 (for a driver's license") or even $15 (for a state photo ID) or go to their local post office or county clerk's office to purchase a passport for $100. This is everyone's right, not a pay-to-play boondoggle. Why on earth are we putting obstacles in the way of citizens to exercise what is their Constitutionally-ordained right?

Because Republicans will lie, cheat and steal at every opportunty to win elections they can't win legitimately.