Voter ID

Today, 30 states require voters to present identification to vote in federal, state and local elections. Many Americans do not have the necessary identification that these laws require, and face barriers to voting as a result. Research shows that more than 21 million Americans do not have government-issued photo identification; a disproportionate number of these Americans are low-income, racial and ethnic minorities, and elderly. Voter ID laws have the potential to deny the right to vote to thousands of registered voters who do not have, and, in many instances, cannot obtain the limited identification states accept for voting. Many of these Americans cannot afford to pay for the required documents needed to secure a government-issued photo ID. As such, these laws impede access to the polls and are at odds with the fundamental right to vote. Learn more >>

11/08/2011
Voter ID

So You Think You Can Vote?

By Deborah J. Vagins, ACLU Washington Legislative Office & Georgeanne M. Usova, Washington Legislative Office at 10:35am

This Election Day, we are faced with a dramatic rollback of the right to vote.

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07/29/2011
Voter ID

Every Vote Matters

By Laura W. Murphy, Director, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 4:57pm

I grew up in a family that was always extremely engaged in politics. My mother ran for political office three times and from an early age instilled in me the importance of exercising our most cherished fundamental right: the right to vote. At age 70, my mother stopped driving and did not have government-issued photo identification until she died at age 84, although she still was able to vote in every election. Over the last few months, however, state legislatures have passed voter identification laws that would prevent senior citizens like my mother from expressing her political voice at the polls.

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09/04/2012
Voter Suppression

South Carolina Doesn’t Need a Voter ID Law

As a former South Carolina State Election Commissioner, I hope that the U.S. District Court will see the new South Carolina voter ID law for what it is and block its implementation.

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05/04/2012
Voter Suppression

Keeping Ohio’s Souls at the Polls: Sen. Durbin Holds Field Hearing on Ohio Voting Law

By Deborah J. Vagins, ACLU Washington Legislative Office & Mike Brickner, ACLU of Ohio at 11:30am

On Monday, May 7, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights will hold a field hearing in Cleveland, Ohio to examine the impact of Ohio’s new voting law, HB 194.

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04/05/2012
Voter ID

Let Ruthelle Vote

By Elizabeth Beresford, ACLU at 2:39pm

After multiple lawsuits, 84-year-old Ruthelle Frank was able to vote in Tuesday's Wisconsin primary. But she still might not be able to vote in November.

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03/09/2012
Voter Suppression

Let's March On: Protecting the Right to Vote in 2012

By Laura W. Murphy, Director, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 12:33pm

Today marks the 47th anniversary of the fateful march from Selma to Montgomery, which began with the horrors of Bloody Sunday, and concluded with a rally and speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., only days after President Lyndon B. Johnson submitted the Voting Rights Act to Congress.

As I prepare to join Rev. Al Sharpton and other civil and human rights leaders on the steps of the Capitol in Montgomery today to commemorate that historic march, I am reminded of both where we've been as a nation and how great the need is, in the words of Dr. King, to keep marching on. The greatest legacy of the civil rights movement — access to the ballot — is in jeopardy across the country.

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02/15/2012
Celebrate Black History

Working in Communities Still Brings Me Joy

By Nsombi Lambright, ACLU of Mississippi at 3:24pm

Working directly in communities centers me and reminds me what this work is all about.

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09/09/2011
Voter ID

Fundamental Injustice: Voter Suppression Threatens Democracy

By Deborah J. Vagins, ACLU Washington Legislative Office & Georgeanne M. Usova, Washington Legislative Office at 2:28pm

Sen. Dick Durbin calls the recent rash of state voter suppression efforts, "a threat to our democracy." Yesterday he held a hearing on this disturbing trend at which the ACLU submitted a statement for the record.

In recent months, state legislatures across the nation have erected new barriers to the ballot through the passage of a range of highly restrictive voter suppression laws. Regressive measures were introduced in more than 30 states, and thirteen states proceeded to adopt new or expanded barriers to voting.

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06/14/2011
Voter ID

Lions and Tigers and Fraud, Oh My! Secretary of State Kris Kobach Is at It Again

By Jon Sherman, Voting Rights Project & Katie O'Connor, Voting Rights Project at 2:09pm

In a recent column in the Wall Street Journal, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach takes a victory lap trumpeting the passage of his voter ID law. He writes: "You can't cash a check, board a plane, or even buy full-strength Sudafed over the counter without [a photo ID]. That's why it's not unreasonable to require one in order to protect our most important privilege of citizenship." Voting, however, is not a privilege; it is a fundamental right guaranteed by more constitutional amendments than any other right we have. Cashing a check, getting on an airplane, and buying a nasal decongestant are not similarly enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.

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9/18/2012
Conoce tus derechos - Escucha
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