Why is it discriminatory to require voters to present ID on election day? Many of us use our ID on a daily basis so it doesn’t seem unreasonable to be asked to prove who we are when we go to vote.
This clip from Answering the Call features Congressman John Lewis, Ari Berman (The Nation), Susan Watson (Alabama ACLU), and Helen Hutchison (League of Women Voters of California) laying out an argument for why voter ID laws are a barrier for many Americans. The bottom line is that minorities, the elderly, and students are statically less likely to possess a valid ID and live in areas of the country with less access to getting one.
In addition, these voter ID laws are relatively new and are being passed on the basis of protecting against voter fraud; yet every study on voter fraud has proven that it is extremely rare and that less than .0001% of votes cast are fraudulent. The successful passing of voter ID laws are also a direct result of the Supreme Court ruling in 2013 (Shelby v. Holder); in which the court ruled a portion of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to be unconstitutional. For the first time in over 50 years, this upcoming election will happen without the protections of the Voting Rights Act — had the law remained whole, these voter ID laws would have been very difficult, if not impossible, to pass.
Answering the Call comes out on iTunes and Amazon on October 25, 2016.