Unravelling Democracy

This may be a little too related to Texas, but I read this article on Little Green Footballs about the recent voter ID policy, and it captured my interest in such a way, that I was urged to write about it. The author claims that the new voter ID policy,which was proposed by the GOP to defend against voter fraud, is in fact “now widely regarded as a means of voter suppression rather than of fraud prevention.” According to the author, the voter ID policy is very difficult to comply with for many different people, but it is especially so for women who have married and who have changed their last name. Getting the proper documents together and being accepted for the voter ID is proving to be very difficult for these women. With that, 99% of men get through the system hassle-free while 34% of women are scrambling for acceptable materials. The author actually goes so far as to state that white men are the only people who are unfazed by the policy.

And this is where the article deviates in argument, but maintains its purpose. According to the author, it is twice as likely for white men to have the proper documents arranged for the new voter ID than it is for Hispanics in Hispanic dominant areas because they commonly don't have a DMV. I believe that what the author says here may be correct, but it also leaves me wondering about non-Hispanic, non-white people. Where does everyone else stand here? Is it more difficult for Asians or blacks to be accepted for voter ID? Despite my questions, I understand that Hispanics are probably the largest non-white community in Texas, so for the sake of the argument, I can let that go. Ultimately, though, the author argues that the Republicans of today are the Confederates of the past, and they believe in white male supremacy in voting; that the voter ID is a way to squash all voting from other peoples.

This article is undoubtedly an attack on the Republican party’s idea. And I must say, I both agree with it and disagree with it. While I agree that the voter ID policy is probably making it more difficult for many people, I don’t necessarily agree with the fact that it is secretly a way of ensuring white males as the only voters. I think if the voter ID policy is to stay, the application process for it should be changed so that it facilitates for recently married women and people who for other reasons are having a hard time gathering the right documents. That said, while correcting the process for getting the voter ID would be a decent way to go about it, the author offers a reasonable argument that in person voting fraud is, in fact, not a problem at all.

Therefore, something must be done about the voter ID because it seems like it is causing problems and likely discouraging people from voting. Even if our system is capable of running without the people driving it, it would be crippling to purposefully not let the people vote. If we did that, we couldn’t call ourselves a democracy anymore! And that's just unAmerican!