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The GOP is at it again …
In 2011, Alabama’s Republican-controlled legislature passed a voter ID law that requires a driver’s license or a form of government ID in order to vote.
And now, in 2015, driver’s license offices are being closed in eight of the 10 counties with the highest percentage of non-white voters, and soon driver’s license offices will be closed in every Alabama county where more than 75% of registered voters are black.
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what Alabama is doing. They want to make sure black voters can’t vote; of course, it doesn’t hurt that these counties are also home to mostly other minorities as well, so the plan seems to be to keep the voters in Alabama white.
The NAACP Legal Defense Fund notes that, according to the state's own analysis, “approximately 20 percent of registered voters, or 500,000 people, lack Alabama driver’s licenses or non-driver photo IDs" and says that the closures "very likely violate" the Voting Rights Act and the U.S. Constitution.
But, naturally, Terry Lathan, the chair of the Alabama Republican Party says something different:
“There have been quick and efficient plans to accommodate any registered voter in Alabama who needs a free photo voter ID. No voter will be denied that opportunity regardless of where they reside in our state. Most voters already have some type of government picture identification, but for those that don't they will find it easy to acquire one in Alabama.”
But if that’s the case, then why close offices in minority counties only? Why not in the predominantly white counties as well?
Oh yeah. Alabama. GOP. Racism. Voter suppression.
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Thursday, October 08, 2015
Alabama Passes Voter ID Law, Closes Most Driver's License Offices In Predominately Black Counties
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that does not sound good!
ReplyDeletePleas forgive me for this, but being from Alabama. I have to put in my two cents. Of those counties shown only four maybe five are "predominantly black," most are rural predominantly "white counties." Just because they are listed as being in the Balck Belt does not mean they are predominantly black, only that those counties had rich top soil for farming. Many of the African Americans in those areas have moved to the "larger" cities in Alabama. Furthermore, a voter ID card is till issued in all of the counties for FREE. Most people in these counties went to a larger county to get driver's licenses and renewals anyway, as you could only do so in these counties about once a week, if the officer showed up on those days.
ReplyDeleteTrust me whe now I say that I hate the Republican legislature in Alabama but the Democratic legislature got the ball rolling on this legislation first. The Alabama legislature is incredibly corrupt, Democrat or Republican. I dislike them all, but this issue has been blown out of proportion.
@Joe
ReplyDeleteThanks for the personal insight. It just shows how things get twisted a little, or a lot, outside the area!