I believe that these new voter restrictions (voter ID laws and the cutting back of early voting hours) have broad public support in part because many people do not understand the nuances of the lives of lower income people and thus how and why these laws have a disproportionate impact on this one demographic over others. I feel that Democrats and other understanding people who care about equal access to voting have fallen down in their responsibility of getting this across to the public forcefully enough to overcome the Republican's efforts. My guess is that many Democrats think their reasoning is obvious-but in my experience with this issue it is not obvious to many people. In the relative vacuum of this lack of coordinated and assertive effort to educate the public, Republican "reasonable-sounding" rationales for instituting these new restrictions have convinced many people that such laws are just and fair.
Although I believe that Republican politicians very largely are motivated by the desire to stop Democratic-leaning voters from voting, their rationale sounds reasonable to people ignorant of the differences in low-income people's lives. Many Americans do not realize that, with a low income, it is very often much harder to accomplish many daily tasks and logistics and why that is. They don't understand how and why accessing needed information or even voting can be much more challenging. This lack of understanding is the key reason many people cannot grasp why these laws are unjust and, I believe, one reason why Republicans are getting away with what they are doing so easily.
I feel strongly that we need to explain over and over, as often as possible and publicly, the reasons why these new laws disproportionately poor people, even if we give the benefit of the doubt and assume in the moment for sake of reaching more people that that is only a "side effect" of these laws. I include the President in the "we" as he can be very effective at explaining the rational behind issues to people (his explaining how things feel to the African American community around the killing of Trayvon Martin and the trial of his killer comes to mind), and of course the President has the ear of the media when he speaks.
The following is my experience based on working and living in a low income, mixed race (about 50% African American) city community:
1. Poor people are more likely to work two or more jobs (show statistic), or when they do work (percentage) they are more likely to work 2 or more jobs.
2. Those jobs are more likely to be of low prestige and with less flexibility than the sort of jobs higher income people have. If poor people miss/are late for work, they are more likely to get disciplined or even fired. They cannot take off work to vote or go to municipal offices
3. More poor people than higher income people lack transportation (ie a car) so getting to the polls in a timely/easy way AND getting to municipal offices to get ID can be more difficult. Many in cities rely on (somewhat unpredictable) public transportation/buses. This means it takes often much longer than drivers to get to places
4. Without a car, many more low income people, particularly in the city, do not have a driver's license than higher income people (show percentages). So, unlike most higher income people it is THEY that would have to figure out and go to get a special new voter ID
5. People argue that "everyone" should or must have an ID. YOu need one to buy a house, take out a loan, even go to the bank or get a job, they say. THat norm is actually is for the middle and upper class lifestyle. IT is true for some poor people but MANY more of them do not regularly use ID because they--rent or live with friends/relatives and do not buy a house nor take out loans. Many more work at jobs that don't check ID. Importantly, MANY more do not even have BANK ACCOUNTS. I think the last especially is what Most people do not get.
6. More poor people than higher income people do not have a computer/easy internet access in order to get information, addresses, locations to both find where to vote and, more usually, to find out WHat documents they need to vote, Where to get them, How to get there, When the offices are open and What documents to Bring. This makes even FINDING information Much more burdensome. In a way, some low income people live in the 1980s.
7. Some low income people don't even have a cell phone to make calls. And the kind of labor they do tends to be the kind where they are NOT at a desk like many higher income people. They don't have easy access to a phone to make calls to find out where to go and what to do. And as we all know, calls to hotlines and municipal offices often require many minutes waiting on hold. Lower income workers, as above, often do not have the kind of jobs that have the flexibility to make such phone calls, unlike higher income workers.
8. Lower income workers struggle more with childcare and cannot afford to pay for it themselves very usually. Babysitters make the same or more income on average than low income workers, at least in my city. With the longer lines for voting (many hours often), people cannot take their children usually...they cannot endure it.
ALL these things contribute to lower income workers (a) having great difficulty getting the ID required (b) getting free on ONE PARTICULAR DAY-including someone to watch children (the one Tuesday that is election day) in order to vote.
Lower income people need--much more than middle class and wealthier people--multiple chances/days to try to be able to vote because of barriers in their lives that others do not have. Some of these-like work-are examples of a person being responsible (to counter an argument on the right), and all are legitimate. If some sort of ID is required it people need ample time before the requirements take effect, then need to be very clear, widely publicized, and easy to get. I think in fact the required ID should be anything that proves someone is who they say they are--student ID's, work ID's, bills in their name, or even a handwritten note that is notarized.
The required ID can't be something that is almost impossible for certain people to get. Just getting together the records/documents needed to even get your ID is burdensome for most people-as many of us have experienced if we've lost our driver's licenses. Imagine (and encourage others to imagine) you lack a car, internet access or easy daytime access to make lengthy phone calls; anyone can see it could be impossibly burdensome. Add to that, when you have a very low income, the priority is food and shelter(rent usually) for you/your family and oftentimes you are urgently to frantically spending your time/resources to meet those immediate and pressing needs. Those that do not struggle often have no idea of the draining toll. Those life-sustaining efforts often must take priority over the daunting and time-draining task of finding out what kind of ID you need to vote at some later date down the line-and where/when to get it, figuring out how you can logistically get there, getting and filling out forms, finding addresses to send them to, in order to get documents (if you can) needed to get another document, your ID.
The result of these laws is that states involved will be requiring these new hurdles from nearly exclusively people who have low incomes and are most pressed already. Most middle-income and better off people have driver's licenses. It feels cruel ("jump through these hoops or you can't vote") and is unjust. Frankly, these laws are "unAmerican", although many do not like that term, it is one that many Americans, particularly Republicans, understand and it is apt I believe in this case. If you prefer, it could be said that these laws go against the core of what our country is said to be about.
I hope you will join me in the effort to explain the legitimate reasons why low income people, of all demographics, will be greatly and negatively effected by cutting back on early voting and by requiring specific/special ID. Please join me in loudly and persistently affirming how and exactly why these laws are unjust and impact certain groups disproportionately. Maybe with all our combined efforts the pubic will begin to question the impact of these laws.
Thanks for reading!
