President Obama can help fight back against Vote Suppression by executive order. He could do it tomorrow if he wished. Follow me below the Hanging Orange Chad for more...
The Republicans only win because millions of Americans don't vote. So they use dirty tricks to make voting difficult:
- Felon disenfranchisement
- Cutting polling hours
- Closing polling places in Democratic neighborhoods.
But the Republican-passed "Voter ID" laws are the worst. They vary from state-to-state, but they basically require some onerous form of photo ID before you can vote -- usually a state issued ID, like a driver's license.
For whatever reason, these laws are wildly popular with the electorate. The Supreme Court doesn't seem to care about their inherent racism, so we shouldn't bank on them being struck down.
Voter ID laws, in some form, are here to stay. Our goal as activists must now shift. Instead of fighting these laws, we must get as many citizens as possible in compliance with them.
President Obama can help us a lot by Executive Order. He could do it tomorrow.
The White House should issue an EO that will require that anybody who:
- Gets Food Stamps
- Gets welfare (any of the various Federal Programs)
- Gets a Federal student loan
- Gets a Section 8 Housing voucher or lives in Federally-funded housing
- Has kids who get Federally-funded school lunches
- Gets Medicaid
- Gets Unemployment Insurance or
- Gets Disability Insurance
...have a valid, current Photo ID.
This will force millions of people to have what they need in order to vote.
People may not stand in an DMV line to vote. But they will do it if their benefits are on the line.
I know I will get flamed for this. People will rightly point out that I'm imposing bureaucratic hardship on the most vulnerable people. Yes, but we all must make sacrifices. Also unemployed people and college students are probably the best suited to spend a day standing in line at the DMV. Bring a book.
Besides, if the Republicans win, their benefits will likely be cut anyhow.
Of course, any Republican who complains about this should be accused of condoning FRAUD because requiring ID will almost certainly reduce fraud in these programs.
This is not a kind and joyful solution. But it is one that we actually have the power to implement today without expensive lobbying, useless petition drives, or lawsuits in the conservative-stacked Supreme Court.
It is also not a permanent solution. In a perfect world, we will not have Vote Suppression. But we don't live in that world yet.
(This Diary is almost identical to one I published in May 2012. I think it is still relevant).