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Republicans
and Democrats have clashed on voter ID laws for years.
Republicans and Democrats have differed on the voter ID issue
for years. Republicans say these laws are needed to stop voter
fraud, while Democrats say voter ID laws are intended to discourage
voters who are less likely to have the right kind of ID, often
the poor and minorities, who are also more likely to vote for
Democrats. Why would they be more likely to vote for Democrats?
The middle photo shows some people protesting because they felt
they were, disenfranchised, or not allowed to vote, in the 2000
presidential election in Florida. To "disenfranchise"
means to take away a right or privilege, especially the right
to vote. In that election many people who were legal voters were
turned away at the polls because their names appeared on a list
of convicted criminals. Later the state apologized to these people,
but they still lost their right for that election. Would a
voter ID card have helped them in that case?
One study showed that 11 million U.S. citizens don't have
a birth certificate or passport in their homes. It costs time
and money to get an official birth certificate from the county
you were born in. Have you ever seen your birth certificate?
Some states' voter ID laws have already been overturned by the
courts, like Georgia's. It required anyone without a driver's
license or passport to get an official state ID for $20, and
in the city of Atlanta, with a high African American population,
there was not a single place people could purchase this. Do
you think this was done on purpose or was it just a huge mistake?
  
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