Thank you all for your comments; we’re happy that the voter ID issue has generated some great discussion!
You may wonder why VoteRiders hasn’t addressed the validity of voter ID laws themselves. As a non-partisan, nonprofit organization, VoteRiders does not deal with the politics and policy considerations of the voter ID issue. What we care about and strive toward is that every eligible voter will be able to vote. There is a plethora of groups fighting voter ID laws, but we are not one of them. There are 31 states with voter ID laws currently in effect that will require citizens to get an ID for primaries and, of course, the general election - an ever-decreasing amount of time to gather necessary documents and actually get IDs.
Getting a copy of your birth certificate alone can take two-and-a-half months. So, for instance, if the PA Supreme Court fails to overturn that state's voter ID law, there could be insufficient time for citizens to secure all the underlying documents they need; furthermore by that time, visiting PennDOT (where you get your voter ID) will be an even more crowded and time-consuming process. Now is the time to reach out and take (or organize others to take) your grandmother, a neighbor who may have disabilities, a returning veteran, your best friend or maybe even yourself to get a voter ID.
VoteRiders' mission is to assist citizens with getting the ID they need. Those most at-risk of disenfranchisement do not have driver’s licenses: older adults, people of color, young adults, individuals with disabilities, and low-income citizens. VoteRiders is providing resources to on-the-ground organizations that are helping these citizens obtain the necessary documents required in some states – copies of birth certificates, replaced social security cards, marriage certificates, etc.
In regards to our previous diary, we acknowledge that it’s OK to both get mad AND get an ID. Don’t you think that the Freedom Riders who challenged segregation were angry? They turned that anger into one of the most powerful actions in American civil rights history.
So go ahead and get mad. Now let’s do something about it!
You can still take the VoteRiders Pledge, Take a Friend to the DMV:
VoteRiders.com/Pledge
Or Donate to VoteRiders
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