America Vote Act ( Hava )

The idea of obtaining a voter ID and presenting it at polls to vote is a concern amongst Republicans and Democrats. Republicans believe that a voter ID should be required at polling areas and create laws in support of this notion, however Democrats believe that by passing these laws we deny the constitutional right of citizens to vote, therefore rendering these laws unconstitutional. I for one believe that we should have voter ID laws which required people show a form of ID at polling stations to ensure that votes registered for a poll are that of a citizen and that of the one who is voting. Based on the three articles from The Enduring Debate, debating whether we should have Voter ID laws, we can see as to how voting fraud can be committed and how it’s only use may possibly be used to push the Republican agenda and disrupt the Democrats agenda.

Voter ID laws in the United States have begun to create controversy since the beginning of its adaptations in the early 2000’s. Voter ID laws in the United States is a law that requires U.S. citizens to have a special form of identification in order to vote in an election. The idea with Voter ID laws is that the state must make sure that the laws do not pose any sort of burden on the voters. These laws have been proposed in order to stop voting fraud. However, the institution of Voter ID laws have made trouble in states, including Texas, regarding to the various amount of identification requirements needed.

The first topic that needs to be addressed is Voter ID laws. What voter ID laws are, is they are laws that basically state that a person is required to give some form of photo identification before they are able to register to vote or receive a ballot for an election. The states that are strict about photo identification is Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi,

“All U.S citizens at the age of 18 or older must be registered and vote on all election days. All businesses must schedule employees paid time off throughout the day (minimum 2 hours during business hours), or the business may close for the entire day. All ballots must be mailed-in, turned-in, or casted by 8pm local time zone. Anyone who objects to vote on voting day will be penalized with a fine and sentenced to jail time.”

In 2002, with the intention of updating election technology, hampering voter fraud, and increasing faith in the electoral system, President George W. Bush signed into law the Help America Vote Act (Gerken 14). Since the implementation of this act, controversial voter identification laws have begun springing up all over the country. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, “thirty-one states require all voters to show ID before voting at the polls. In fifteen of these, the ID must include a photo of the voter; in the remaining sixteen, non-photo forms of ID are acceptable” (Voter Identification Requirements). In 2005 Indiana lawmakers passed one of the strictest voter identification laws in the country requiring voters

On the other hand, a voter ID card is easy to get -they are often given without a background check, just like getting a driver's license.The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 makes employers show proof in their identity. This means that workers have to prove that they are either American citizens or legal aliens with a work permit.

There are thirty states in the United States that require some form of official identification in order to register to vote and to vote for federal, state, and local elections. Voter identification laws ensure the integrity of elections by deterring impersonation fraud at the polls. Requiring a government-issued ID to vote will prevent voting under fake names or under the names of deceased voters, which according to The Pew Center of the States “more than 1.8 million deceased individuals are listed as voters”.

Strict enforcement of voter ID laws would cause 21 million Americans to lose the option to vote (ACLU). Often reminiscent of poll taxes and the Jim Crow laws that were meant to stop African Americans from voting in the 1800s, today’s voter ID laws bar minorities, the elderly, the disabled, and/or low income individuals from exercising their right to vote freely. The concept of voter ID laws rose in popularity in 2008 when President Barack Obama won the presidential election and his opponents cried fraud due to the influx of votes for him from newly registered Democrat and minority voters (Weiser). Tova Wang, an election reform expert at the think tank Demos, cited Florida’s 600,000 new voters as directly spurring the voter ID controversy (Berman).

For as long as I can remember Identifications have been used to show, and verify one’s identity, whether it is to buy a small box of cigarettes or get into a place, we must show and prove who are. There is really no excuse to not have an identification for something more important like voting.

Throughout the most recent ten years voter ID appears to have turned out to be a greater amount of an issue. States utilizing such measures say it's a sensible aversion for misrepresentation. There is some legitimacy to requiring voter ID as an obstacle, yet as indicated by the Carter-Baker Commission, voter misrepresentation is negligible (Underhill, 2011). Voters must be enrolled in any case, so these sorts of laws appear to be roundabout deduction in real life. Texas is a decent case of why voter ID laws are a misuse of citizen's chance and cash. Over a 10 year time frame, they've just sentenced 150 fakes in a condition of 25 million individuals (Cohen, 2012). The preferred standpoint to such laws are little. A much bigger worry about the

Voter ID laws are the laws set into place that require a person to show some form of identification to vote, most of which require PHOTO ID. Senate Bill 14, which requires proof of Identification; providing criminal penalties and Senate Bill 5, which requires a voter to present proof of ID; providing a criminal penalty and increasing a criminal penalty are the two bills being questioned at the time. Senate bill 5 was the revised version of SB 14, which was put into place so that voters with no photo ID could sign a declaration and still cast their vote. SB 5 was thrown out with Attorney General Paxton saying “our argument is simple that this is a legitimate act of legislature. This is not discriminatory.” In 2011 the

In addition to that, understanding how voter ID laws may impact election results, will in return, contribute to the efforts that aim to understand the agenda behind the recent and rapid spread of such laws. Thus, if my results are what I think they will be then voter ID laws will be known for what they really are, an attempt at voter oppression. Moreover, there certainly are limitations to this research proposal. For instance, while this research should present some insight into the impact of voter ID laws, the fact remains that there is a limited number of election results that could demonstrate the true range of impact that voter ID laws have on voter turnout rates. Therefore, future research will be able to benefit from the increased volume of data on election results, and in return perhaps be able to build on the results of this study. In addition to that, since I have a short time window for this project, certain variables that might influence and also be contributing to lower voter turnouts will be left

The State of Connecticut, allows voters to bring their social security card and any preprinted form of identification which shows name, address and signature or photograph. As well as the State of Connecticut, The State of Florida, allows voters to bring any kind of ID, like Florida driver’s license, debit or credit card, student identification or neighborhood association ID. Basically the essential is that it shows your name and a current residential address, so even a utility bill, bank statement or paycheck are allowed. However, in the State of California the ID requirements are California driver’s license, California ID and/or social security number. On the other hand, in the State of Pennsylvania you are just required to show a Pennsylvania driver’s license number of the last four digits of your social security number.

No ballots can be misplaced and there is no need for poll workers to help a voter out by looking over the voters shoulder, then making changes where necessary (Voting Technology Project). People are looking to protect their privacy and make sure that there vote is one of the votes that really count. The problem is that it is not safe to have a paper or receipt type thing printed out for a voter, this type of thing could lead to a wide spread buying of votes by the separate sides. Buying votes is obviously something neither side wants to see happen.

Knowing your Voter ID Details is of immense importance when the motive of the citizens is to be well endowed with the proper documents that would ensure a smooth entry into polling booth at the time of elections.