Voter ID Law: Helping or Preventing?

Recently, an epidemic flew across the United States, and now has caused a great amount of controversy. Voter ID laws were put in place right before the 2012 election. Now, the most recently ask question is "will this affect the voting turnout?" According to the New York Times, "33 states now have laws requiring identification for voting, and five require specific kinds of photo IDs ..."(NPR). On September 5, our neighboring state passed the voter ID law as well. In the end, who does this really affect? Is race a huge factor? Will it soon turn right back into certain people being able to vote? No body will really ever know, but the only thing you can do is analyze statistics.

I have to be honest, (this is what my blog is for anyway), the 2008 Presidential Election was all about Obama's race and about making history. Not many people were every really into politics until they realized that they could be a part of history. There would be no way that I could find a "Vote or Die" t-shirt in 2004 even if I made it myself. In short, that election brought out people's true colors and just proved that racism is still alive. Now that President Obama proved himself and did what he said he was going to do, many new eyes are being open. This being my first election that I'm able to vote, I took both parties into consideration. I sm actually following the news and latest debates because I live in a free country, and I now have the all given right to vote; so I'm going to do it the right way, not because of the color of the candidates skin.

Me, being biracial, like Obama himself, I took a copious amount of harsh and racial blows just because the color of my mother's skin. But news flash, according to the New York Times, 43% of Whites voted for Obama in the 2008 election, 67% of  Hispanics, and 62% of Asians. If just the blacks alone voted for Obama, he wouldn't be in office trying to get reelected today. I'm not saying this election changed all people, but it did change enough of them and proved the amount of ignorance in our country.

Someone recently made a statement that the voter ID law is in effect because "they" don't want black people to vote. First off, who is they?, and second of all, that's not even close to the case. The ID actually helps in your part and actually protects your right as an American to vote. However, that does affect the 23% of voters who are older than the age of 60 because most likely, most of them do not drive anymore, meaning they have no ID. This is where you as a person, community, group, or family need to make a move, and not blame every one else. For instance, my church is holding a photograph session for elders so they can receive a senior ID card provided by the Burlington County Sheriff's Department, not only to be prepared for when the law passes in New Jersey, but so they too can be a part of the 21st century. In about 5 years, not only will you need ID to vote or drive, but you'll most likely need it for your everyday routine because as we grow, so does technology. For the first time, I had to provide ID just to deposit money in my checking account. Times are changing, and my advice to you is to get on board because the anchor isn't going to be down for much longer.

So who's to say that these voter ID laws will help or prevent anything? --Statistics

My thing is, don't speak on anything unless you are educated on the topic and/or have facts and statistics to back it up. Everyone is entitled to there own opinion, and here's mine: straight like that.

Works Cited/Consulted

"Exit Polls." - Election Results 2008. New York Times, 05 Nov. 2008. Web. 13 Oct. 2012. <http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/results/president/exit-polls.html>.

 

"Do Voter ID Laws Prevent Fraud, Or Dampen Turnout?" National Public Radio. N.p., 07 Sept. 2012. Web. 13 Oct. 2012. <http://www.npr.org/2012/08/15/158869947/do-voter-id-laws-prevent-fraud-or-dampen-turnout>.