Shame on Gov. Scott Walker and Republican legislators for enacting laws that place an unfair—and in our view, unconstitutional—burden on minority voters. According to a former Republican aide under oath, some of the Republican state senators were “giddy” over the thought of making it easier for Republicans to win elections by passing these voter suppression laws under the guise of stopping fraud, which by the way, even the Republican U.S. attorney couldn’t find.
As elections experts testified in the federal voting rights case brought by the One Wisconsin Institute and Citizen Action of Wisconsin Education Fund this past week, it’s undeniable that voter ID and other voting-related laws were more troublesome for black and Latino voters, especially those who are poor or were born out of state.
The state is supposed to issue free photo ID cards to those who want to use them to vote. More than half of those receiving a free ID are black or Latino, according to the Department of Motor Vehicles. If the requesters don’t have the proper documents to prove their identity, they can petition for one. It isn’t easy. A whopping 85% of those denied an ID card are black or Latino, and 57% of those denied live in Milwaukee, according to last week’s testimony. Many were born out of state and can’t easily obtain their birth certificate.
Let’s face it. The white, privileged Republicans who passed these laws have no problem with them because they, and their constituents, have the proper ID to vote and aren’t affected by them. And these Republicans are either unaware of how difficult it is for a low-income, black or Latino voter to locate their original birth certificate or they are completely aware of that fact and deliberately erected that burden on these specific voters as a new type of Jim Crow law. Elections should be open to all citizens who are qualified to vote—not merely those who have the privilege of obtaining a photo ID in a rigged process.
