Last updated on: 3/10/2016 11:41:16 AM PST
Should Voters Be Required to Show Photo Identification in Order to Vote?
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Con (No)
Con
"What is happening is a sweeping effort to disempower and disenfranchise people of color, poor people, and young people from one end of our country to the other. Because since the Supreme Court eviscerated a key provision of the Voting Rights Act in 2013, many of the states that previously faced special scrutiny because of a history of racial discrimination have proposed and passed new laws that make it harder than ever to vote...
Here in Texas, former Governor Rick Perry signed a law [Senate Bill 14, requiring voters to show photo identification] that a federal court said was actually written with the purpose of discriminating against minority voters. He applauded when the Voting Rights Act was gutted... Today Republicans are systematically and deliberately trying to stop millions of American citizens from voting... I believe every citizen has the right to vote, and I believe we should do everything we can to make it easier for every citizen to vote."
Source: CSPAN, "Hillary Clinton on Voting Rights," cspan.org, June 4, 2015
[Editor's Note: Texas Senate Bill 14 was signed into law on May 27, 2011, but not enacted until June 23, 2013, when the US Supreme Court struck down the section of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that had blocked the Texas law.]
Con
"I'm in the camp that believes we should make it as easy as possible to vote. When you start talking about restricting the right to vote or voter ID, ultimately that's about less people voting."
Source: Jim Malewitz, "Libertarian Eyes a Third-Party Presidential Chance," texastribune.org, Apr. 12, 2016
Con
"We call for, for example, a constitutional right to vote, which would make these voter ID laws obsolete and impossible. We would ensure that every voter has the right to vote...
[W]hich would put voter ID laws basically into court, and would render them unconstitutional, essentially. It would make very clear that anyone who tries to restrict the right to vote will be taken into court, where they will have to prove before a court of law and a jury that they are not violating that right. And right now that decision, you know, is left up to secretaries of state, and to legislatures and so on. So there would be constitutional protection."
Source: Uprising Radio, "How Green Party Presidential Candidate Jill Stein Differs from the Two Major Parties," uprisingradio.org, Sep. 27, 2012
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Not Clearly Pro or Con
"I want to see voting laws so that people that are citizens can vote. Not so people that can walk off the street and can vote, or so that illegal immigrants can vote...
I don't think people should sneak in through the cracks. You have to have - And whether that's an ID or any way you want to do it. But you have to be a citizen to vote."
Source: NBC News, "Meet the Press - May 8, 2016," nbcnews.com, May 8, 2016
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FORMER CANDIDATES
(Candidates who have withdrawn or who no longer meet our criteria appear below in black and white and in alphabetical order.)
Pro (Yes)
Pro
"Finally, states should be allowed to protect the integrity of the franchise with voter identification laws, which are supported by a large majority of Americans, including Hispanics. So long as states make it simple for citizens to obtain such forms of identification, they should have the latitude to require such identification for voting or to secure welfare benefits."
Source: Jeb Bush, Immigration Wars: Forging an American Solution, 2013
Pro
"I am pleased the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals invalidated much of the District Court's analysis on the Texas Voter ID Law - including the erroneous conclusion that it somehow constituted a poll tax. However, the Court's decision that SB 14 violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act is profoundly disappointing.
There is nothing 'discriminatory' about a law that protects the legitimate votes of American citizens and promotes the integrity of our elections - which is precisely what Texas' common sense Voter ID Law does.
I'm encouraged to hear that Governor Abbott intends to continue fighting to combat voter fraud to ensure that the vote of every Texan counts."
Source: Ted Cruz, "Sen. Cruz Statement on Texas Voter ID Law Decision," cruz.senate.gov, Aug. 5, 2015
Pro
“Thirty states have some form of voter ID requirement, so I think this is the future of the country, something we should embrace at the federal level, because elections do matter...
All the [9/11] hijackers had -- five or six -- had fake drivers licenses, so I think sanctifying the voting process in a way that makes sense, in a way that makes sure we're electing people based on registered voters, is a goal that we should all be concerned about...
I have no desire to suppress people from voting… I want as many people to vote as possible, and all of them to vote for me, and I know that's not realistic, and if you don't vote for me, that's okay."
Source: Ryan J. Reilly, "Lindsey Graham Backs Federal Voting ID Law, Calls Restrictions 'the Future of the Country,'" talkingpointsmemo.com, Sep. 8, 2011
Pro
"Oh yes, he [President Obama] did have to produce a photo ID in order to vote. So, help me understand this. If the most recognizable person in the entire United States of America has to show his photo ID, why is it too much to ask that of the rest of us?...
A fraudulent vote is a stolen vote. It steals a vote from the thin air and nullifies the legal and legitimate vote of a tax-paying citizen, whose rights to a fair election should not be tampered with. Winning an election is important, but winning it honestly is imperative in a constitutional republic. We expect there to be some ballot manipulation in totalitarian countries with dictators like Chavez, Ahmedinejad, and Castro. We should expect and tolerate nothing less than clean and honest voting in our elections in the United States.
When I go to vote, the people at my voting station recognize me, even call me by name, but I still gladly show them my photo ID just in case there is some unlucky chump who looks just like me. I don't mind. And the president shows his ID even in his hometown of Chicago. He didn't object either. So let's stop the phony nonsense that requiring an ID disenfranchises voters who are old or black. I'm getting old, and Obama is black, and it didn't disenfranchise either one of us."
Source: Mike Huckabee, "Huckabee: Is Asking for Voter ID Really Too Much?," www.foxnews.com, Oct. 27, 2012
Pro
"About a week ago I went and bought an exercise bike because my wife said I was looking too Senatorial, if you know what I mean, and then, you know what this cashier asked me for? When I want to pay? My ID. This morning I got on an airplane, you know what they asked me for?...
So what's the big deal [about having a voter ID rule]? What is the big deal?"
Source: Alex Leary, "Sen. Marco Rubio Joins Mitt Romney Campaign in Pennsylvania, Shuns Vice President Talk," tampabay.com, Apr. 23, 2013
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Con (No)
Con
"In 2014, Republican legislators in 29 states introduced more than 80 bills to require a photo ID, make voter registration more difficult, reduce early voting opportunities, and make it harder for students to vote.
As a result, a 2014 report found that voter ID laws in 32 states stood to keep as many as 23 million Americans from successfully voting.
Millions of Americans who voted in the last election are at risk of being turned away from the polls because of restrictive voting laws that require a photo ID, eliminate early voting, and make it harder to register...
Governor O'Malley believes that nothing is more important in our sacred democracy than the right to vote. As governor, he made it easier – not harder – for Marylanders to vote."
Source: O'Malley for President, "Why We Need a Constitutional Amendment to Secure the Right to Vote," martinomalley.com, Aug. 4, 2015
Con
"In the shameful days of open segregation, 'literacy' laws were used to suppress minority voting. Today, through other laws and actions — such as requiring voters to show photo ID, discriminatory drawing of Congressional districts, not allowing early registration or voting, and purging voter rolls — states are taking steps which have a similar effect…
We must work vigilantly to ensure that every American, regardless of skin color or national origin, is able to vote freely and easily."
Source: Bernie Sanders, "Racial Justice," berniesanders.com (accessed Nov. 6, 2015)
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Not Clearly Pro or Con
"I've made it my personal project, every time I visit a country outside the U.S., to ask what do they do to ensure the integrity of voting. There's not one single country anywhere — first world, second world, it doesn't matter — that doesn't have official requirements for voting.
My question to those people who say we're racist because we apply those standards: Are all the other countries of the world racist? I don't think so. Voting is an important thing. Obviously, you want to make sure that it's done by the appropriate people."
Source: Jonathan Shorman, "Ben Carson, GOP Presidential Candidate, Dismisses Idea Anti-Voter Fraud Measures Racist," cjonline.com, Oct. 21, 2015
None Found
No position found as of Nov. 25, 2015
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No position found as of Nov. 25, 2015
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No position found as of Nov. 9, 2015
Not Clearly Pro or Con
"My position is pretty clear... I don't think there's a problem with showing your ID, but I do think there's a problem with Republicans saying, 'Hey, our big issue for the campaign is going to be voter ID,' because what it creates is - a lot of African-Americans understandably remember the '40s and '50s in the South, and they remember suppression of the vote…
I don't think it's unreasonable, I just think it's dumb for Republicans to emphasize this and say, 'This is how we're going to win the election'... Early voting should be out there for everybody. I'm for early votes, more voting. Let's go to the black community and compete for the vote. Let's talk about criminal justice and school choice and economic opportunity. There are ways we can get African-Americans to come to the Republican Party."
Source: Arthur Delaney, "Rand Paul: Voter ID Push Is 'Dumb,' But the Laws Are Reasonable," huffingtonpost.com, Nov. 2, 2014
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