Oh with yet another Republican primary coming up there's a longer-term issue that will affect voters in several states come November: These Photo-ID laws. While arguments about the disparate impact of these new laws are usually couched in lawsuits and research studies, some activists are now pushing beyond identifying the problem to help voters get the information they need.
I wrote about this last week..But what I didn't write about was a group that is basically saying...Let's move beyond all of the lawsuits and challenges.
The Cost of Freedom Project, a crowd-sourced initiative that is developing a Web application to provide people with information on how to get a voter ID.
The project has focused its efforts on the sixteen states(including mine) where photo-ID laws -- which require government-issued photo ID to be presented at the polls in order to vote -- will go into effect this November.
By typing in an address, users will get a list of the documents needed for a state ID, the offices where they can obtain said documents (as well as their hours of operation and public transportation directions) and the costs. Voters will also be able to get the information through text messaging.
"I got frustrated with only hearing about lawsuits and studies around the problem of voter-ID laws," said Faye Anderson,project manager for the Cost of Freedom team.
"Yes, it's important to challenge voter-ID requirements. But the clock is ticking, and a lawsuit and yet another study will not help one voter who needs a photo ID to get one."
Faye Anderson presented the idea last December at Random Hacks of Kindness Philadelphia, a competition held at Drexel University to develop technological solutions for real-world problems.
From there a team of Web developers, graphic designers and researchers began forming. Faye Anderson demonstrated the application on Feb. 14th during a panel at the Social Media Week conference in Washington, D.C., and she officially launched the site A few weeks ago on March 7th.
The Cost of Freedom tool was designed to be concise, offering just the information voters need. "We don't want to overwhelm them with information. When you start talking about 21st-century poll taxes, people's eyes glaze over," said Ms. Anderson.
She added, however, that such an argument is nonetheless valid. In most states with voter-ID laws, citizens must present a birth certificate to get their ID. "That can cost as high as $25. If you get it online, tack on another $12," said Anderson. "During a recession, having to provide a series of underlying documents is an unreasonable burden. And as a practical matter: While you need a birth certificate to get photo ID, in order to get a birth certificate, you need photo ID."
But despite the many aspects of photo-ID laws that may block voters from accessing the ballot, the Cost of Freedom is focused simply on helping people get what they need in time. "We want to give voters information as quickly as possible," said Anderson, "To minimize the number of voters who say 'Oh, forget about it.' "
You know, I joked about needing a birth certificate last week. These fools aren't joking though... I don't know about you, but I don't carry my birth certificate around with me.
As I stated before...While this is all well and good..Most people have a drivers license...(Which is a valid State issued form of identification.) If you work somewhere or get any kind of public assistance you have a photo ID of some sort..
If not...You can go to your local Driver's Education center and have a State ID made for you for a minimum cost..It looks just like a Drivers License", except that it says Indentification card.
This is crazy...I never heard of such....These people (and you know who I'm talking about) will go to any length to discourage us from voting...We must be vigilant and we must do everything possible to meet their challenge and thwart it...
They're trying to rig the game in their favor.... They stole an election once...We can not afford to allow them to steal another one.
5 comments:
Interesting Stuff Keith!
You're always on top of important stuff we need to know.
Thanks for posting this...People Need to know these things.
Another good and informative post!
I agree that while we fight to circumvent these laws we must make sure that this election is not hijacked because people lack the necessary identification to vote. I think someone needs to create a fund that will pay for these ids. I don't think PA will bear the cost for this form of id if they won't pay for food or healthcare for needy people.
The best thing we can do is educate about voting rights, note that voting is a RIGHT, not the privilege some have interpreted it to be.
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