LIBERADIO(!)

Seriously worth the click to embiggen.

This Tomorrow morning at 8:30 am, the Senate State & Local Government Committee will hear SB150 by Senator Bill Ketron (the companion bill is HB0639 by Rep. Debra Maggart) which would require voter to show “qualified photographic identification” before being allowed to vote.

When last we left our bill, Senator Lowe Finney’s (D-Jackson, the Fightin’ 27th!) asked the sponsor, Senator Ketron (R-Murfreesboro), if there had “been any other instances of ‘voter fraud’ in the state of Tennessee?” Senator Ketron said he would get back to him on that. Tune in tomorrow morning for the thrilling conclusion!

While on the surface this bill may seem like a good idea, it is really a solution in search of a problem and will actually do more to disenfranchise voters than maintain the integrity of our elections.

Photo ID laws are the modern day equivalent of a poll tax – The expenses involved in obtaining a photo ID card will prevent some individuals from voting. While the bills include language to allow individuals to file paupers’ oaths and accompanying affidavits of indigency to waive costs, it could be uncomfortable and even humiliating to request the waiver. In addition, it is unclear how the information about the exemption will be shared and it is more likely that individuals will not go to the polls because they do not have a photo ID card.

There is no credible evidence that photo ID laws prevent fraud – The Brennan Center of Justice has studied the issue of voter fraud extensively and have concluded that someone is more likely to be hit by lightning than commit voter fraud. They also analyzed the more than 250 claims of fraud in the Supreme Court’s photo ID case and found that there was “not one proven case of a fraudulent vote that the challenged law could prevent.”

Restrictive photo ID cards disenfranchise legitimate voters – Bills like these have the potential of disenfranchise between 13 and 22 million people in the United States who do not have a photo id. A disproportionately large number of these are minorities, seniors and limited-income and disabled persons. Examples of disenfranchisement of the elderly, and poor, elderly nuns in other states who have these laws is well documented.

We should be making it easier, not harder, for people to vote – Nothing is more fundamental to our democracy than the right to vote. But bills like this one restrict, not increase, access to the voting booth. So, don’t be a voter hater. Rather than preventing Tennesseans from voting, why not ensure that every eligible voter is allowed to vote, and that every vote counts?

Please email the members of the Senate State & Local Government Committee ASAP and urge them to oppose SB150: Bill Ketron (R-Murfreesboro, the fightin’ 13th), Chair, Lowe Finney (D-Jackson), Vice Chair, Joe Haynes (D-Goodlettsville), Secretary, Tim Burchett (R-Knoxville), Mike Faulk (R-Church Hill), Thelma Harper (D-Nashville), Mark Norris (R-Collierville), Jim Tracy (R-Shelbyville), Ken Yager (R-Harriman).