The full court press against voting and voting rights continues tomorrow as the Tennessee House Elections Subcommittee meets at 10 am to considerHB0639 by Rep. Debra Maggart (R-Hendersonville), the bill that would require “a voter to present qualified photographic identification before voting,” aka a solution in search of a problem.
It’s already been passed in the Senate (thanks for voting “No” Senators Beverly Marrero (D-Memphis, the Fightin’ 30th!), Lowe Finney (D-Jackson, the Fightin’ 27th!), and Andy Berke (D-Chattanooga, the Fightin’ 10th!) with six amendments attached – a poor attempt at leveling inherently unfair legislation. With the six amendments, the law would exempt the indigent, those living in a nursing home or staying in a hospital, the over-65 crowd, and those religiously opposed to having their picture taken.
Good, right? Not really. If you want participatory democracy to be equitable and still require Photo IDs to vote, then you have to make them free and easily accessible for everyone – not just a few exceptions. Perhaps we can put a voter registration and photo booth in every grocery and convenient store in town and staff them 24/7 (for you know, people who work the third shift).
Huh. Voter registration and photo booths in every grocery and convenient store. Now that’s a fiscal note I’d like to see attached to ol’ HB0639.
Ironically, while Tennessee’s elected Republicans continue to work towards making it more difficult for us to vote, they want to make it easier for us buy guns and drink underage.
And for those of you who think showing a photo ID is a reasonable restriction to place on the voting process, I guarantee you that if this passes they’ll be back next year with even further restrictions. Where Florida goes, Tennessee will follow.
So give a call or send an email to the members of the House Elections Subcommittee and urge them to vote “No” on HB0639.
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