Voter ID is a reaction to the imaginary, nonexistent problem of in-person voter fraud. When Senator Frank Lombardi imagines the law’s repeal, he recounts a weird nightmare scenario in which sleazy politicians send imposters to the polls and forever alter the political landscape.
I heard echoes of the Ghostbusters’ Dr. Peter Venkman in Lombardi’s delivery, “Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together… mass hysteria!”
Senator Lombardi continues by inventing the statistic that 99% of politicians are ethical, which gets a great reaction from Republican Senator Dawson Hodges:
]]>
Part of the problem seems to be that many of the legislators in the Rhode Island General assembly don’t really have any idea of what it is like to be poor, homeless, disabled or otherwise marginalized by society. As a result, they jump to easy answers or rely on “anecdotal evidence” or gut feelings when deciding on policy. Consulting with experts and authorities about how changes in the law might affect certain parts of our population takes time and effort, two things our legislators don’t like to expend.
Case in point:
Some of the ID’s being considered for people who need to prove their identity in order to vote do not actually exist, according to Kate Bowden of the RI Disability Law Center. “For example, we represent many people who live in public housing, I’m not aware of a public housing corporation that issues IDs for the people who live there, and public housing ID is one of the IDs on the list.”
Telling people they can vote using a form of ID that doesn’t exist smacks of a Marie Antoinette “Let them eat cake” level of classism and disregard.
]]>
At the RI Coalition for the Homeless, says LeeAnn Byrne, caseworkers spend a significant amount of time trying to secure photo ID for the homeless, because “they do recognize it’s important for obtaining housing and other services.” Any delay in obtaining such ID should not disqualify a person from voting, and if someone enters a shelter once month before an election their ability to vote should not be the number one concern of caseworkers.
These people need help to get back on their feet, they should not have to worry about whether or not their right to vote will be respected.
“It’s just important for all of you to know that our constituents are constantly silenced while they experience homelessness, one of the most overlooked and invisible populations in our state,” she said. “They face daily barriers to obtain all their daily needs, from food to shelter to clothing. The one place where they are equal, the one place they can share their voice without discrimination should be the voting booth.
]]>
Voter fraud, when it occurs, happens during registration and through absentee ballots, not at the polls, points out John Marion of Common Cause. Money spent enforcing a worthless voter ID law cannot be spent to prevent real voter fraud, or to expand and improve our electoral process.
Marion went on to explain that provisional ballots, which may be cast by those without proper ID, are a different kind of ballot, and there is no guarantee that such votes will be counted or any recourse for voters to take to ensure that they are counted.
Are we setting up a two-tiered voter system? One for those who have money and “proper” ID and a second one for the poor? It certainly smells like class warfare to me.
]]>
“The NAACP wants to make voting easier,” said Providence chapter President Jim Vincent, “not harder.”
That’s because voter ID laws tend to disenfranchise minority voters, though Vincent says he’s confident Rhode Island’s law wasn’t intending to that, as he said is the case in other states. Instead, he warned of “unintended consequences.”
Jim Vincent later went on to counter Senator Lou Raptakis who recalled a recent election in East Greenwich that was won by one vote. Thus even one instance of voter fraud, says the Senator, might sway such elections if we do not maintain the current Voter ID law.
But Jim Vincent, president of the Providence chapter of the NAACP, counters that the voter ID disenfranchises the very people he represents. He says sacrificing ten good votes to prevent one bad vote makes no sense.
]]>