With the 2012 election around the corner, many states began to enact voter ID laws, which would require those participating in the electoral process to prove their identity in some way upon arriving at their polling place.  These laws have varying degrees of severity.  In some states, if you are unable to initially produce a valid ID you will be given a provisional ballot and a few days to complete your vote.  In others, if you don’t have the photo ID you simply cannot vote.  Others still allow non-photo IDs.  Altogether, thirty states have some sort of voter ID law.

While these laws do not initially seem to infringe upon citizens’ right to vote too greatly, they have been the topic of much debate recently, as many claim that they are created in an attempt to disenfranchise many voters of lower socioeconomic standing, or the elderly.  These groups, the lower socioeconomic one in particular, tend to vote Democrat.  This claim is supported by looking at the states which require voter IDs.  Democratic strongholds, such as New York, California, Illinois, Maryland, and New Jersey have no voter ID laws.  Conversely, the five states with the strictest voter ID laws– Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Tennessee, and Texas– are all unquestionable red states, with their electorates choosing a Democrat only one time combined in the four elections of the new millennium (Indiana, 2008).

But why would these laws be so prohibitive for those of the lower socioeconomic classes?  Unless you have a photo ID you can’t complete basic tasks that adults in our society do, things like purchasing alcohol or signing up for a credit card.  What sort of adult doesn’t have a photo ID already?  The Washington Post shows us, profiling Cheryl Ann Moore, a 54 year old woman from Philadelphia.  She has voted since she was 19, but because of Pennsylvania’s new voter ID laws, Moore was worried that she would be unable to vote in the 2012 election.  She’s held the same custodial job for 24 years and only uses cash because credit cards are too “dangerous.”  She doesn’t need an ID to cash her checks because she has been going to the same place for it for so long that they just know her.  Like many living in a more urban environment, Moore doesn’t drive, instead using buses to get around.  Even months before the election, Moore had to take off work and wait for four hours at the DMV to get her ID.  Many in Moore’s situation who are unable to do this will simply be unable to vote.

Pennsylvania’s recent voter ID law has of course been a topic of much debate since it began to be discussed by the state legislature.  It is one of the strictest voter ID laws, but may not ultimately be enacted.  It was passed in state legislature despite every Democrat voting against it, and then signed in to law by Republican Governor Tom Corbett.  The law’s enactment was initially delayed until after the 2012 election and now, nearly a year and a half later, its fate is still undetermined.  In mid-January a state judge struck down the law saying that the burden it would place on those currently without voter IDs would be “unreasonable.”  However, even this is not the ultimate fate of the law, as it is expected to be appealed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court next.

Obviously voter ID laws do have benefits as well.  Otherwise, legislators would have a difficult time justifying their enactment not being partisan-related.  According to Protectmyvote.com, polls on voter ID laws show that they receive an overwhelming amount of public support, ensure that voter fraud is not an issue, and could make the voting process more efficient.  However, voter fraud appears to practically be a non-issue, as the number of fraudulent votes cast appears to be incredibly small– some estimating it to  be as small as 1/15,000,000 votes cast.