Proposed or recently passed state laws requiring photo identification for voters, coupled with Congressional reapportionment and state legislation to restrict the bargaining power of labor unions, threaten to undermine the strength of the black vote in the 2012 election, says the Rev. Jesse Jackson.
“The black vote is the deciding factor in close elections,” Jackson told BlackAmericaWeb.com. “If you take away the votes of 10 percent of the people who are black, brown, poor or on fixed incomes, you can change the outcome of an election.”
The Department of Justice, Jackson said, is the only agency that can intervene on behalf of potentially disenfranchised voters and prevent the gains of the 1960s from being stripped away.
The requirement for state-issued photo identification at polling places will mean that millions may not vote in the 2012 election, because they don’t have licenses or birth certificates and cannot afford to get them, he said.
According to Jackson, there are 5.5 million blacks in America who are of legal driving age but do not have a driver’s license.
Among the states considering photo identification requirements are Ohio, Wisconsin, Kansas, Pennsylvania, Montana, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas.
Barbara R. Arnwine, executive director for the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, says that the time and resources needed to acquire the identification as well as lack of easy access to the needed underlying documents, such as a certified birth certificate and other forms of documentation, are particularly burdensome on minority, low-income, elderly, disabled and student voters.
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