An individual's right to vote is the very underpinning of our republic and the liberty we all hold so sacred. Any attempt to interfere or make voting more difficult should be an outrage to all Americans.
Voter suppression takes many forms. This is merely one. While we may not see poll taxes anymore, de facto poll taxes exist in the form of voter ID laws that force people to take time away from work and/or spend money to get to locations to apply for IDs. This affects people living in cities without driver's licenses disproportionately.
Whether making it harder to vote or harder to register, these suppression techniques have one thing in common. They are a reaction to the inability of a group to not be able to compete on the merits of their policy proposals or ability to connect with the needs of the people whose votes are suppressed.
Please remember this when you vote and the next time you hear proposed changes to voting access and laws in your state and county.
From an article in The Nation :
www.thenation.com/...
When Aracely Calderon, a naturalized US citizen from Guatemala, went to vote in downtown Phoenix just before the polls closed in Arizona’s March 22 presidential primary, there were more than 700 people in a line stretching four city blocks. She waited in line for five hours, becoming the last voter in the state to cast a ballot at 12:12 am. “I’m here to exercise my right to vote,” she said shortly before midnight, explaining why she stayed in line. Others left without voting because they didn’t have four or five hours to spare.