The debate over voter ID laws reached a boiling point this year. Since 2011, legislation to establish voter ID requirements or strengthen existing laws has been introduced in 34 states. Conservatives claim the laws are meant to curb voter fraud, but civil rights groups say that strict ID laws do little to prevent fraud and instead serve to disenfranchise poor and minority voters who tend to support Democrats.
Strict laws requiring a photo or government ID to vote have even been compared to the poll taxes of the Jim Crow era because voters must often take time off work and, in some states, pay bureaucratic fees to obtain IDs.
Republicans have established strict voter ID laws in several states requiring a form of photo or government identification in order to vote, but court battles in states like South Carolina and Pennsylvania have delayed implementation of these laws until after the 2012 election.
In the interactive map below, The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) has provided a state-by-state breakdown of the details and requirements in the 33 states that require some kind of voter ID. The states colored mint green have strict photo ID laws, and states colored yellow have less strict photo ID laws. Blue states have non-photo ID laws and gray states do not have photo ID laws. Detailed information about each state is available at the NCSL web site.
More information on voting rights is available from the American Civil Liberties Union. If you encounter discrimination at the polls or are unable to vote for any reason, call the Nationwide Election Protection Hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE for help. You can also report any problems to the Lawyers Committee of Civil Rights here.
(Click here to see full interactive map. )
Truthout Is Preparing to Meet Trump’s Agenda With Resistance at Every Turn
Dear Truthout Community,
If you feel rage, despondency, confusion and deep fear today, you are not alone. We’re feeling it too. We are heartsick. Facing down Trump’s fascist agenda, we are desperately worried about the most vulnerable people among us, including our loved ones and everyone in the Truthout community, and our minds are racing a million miles a minute to try to map out all that needs to be done.
We must give ourselves space to grieve and feel our fear, feel our rage, and keep in the forefront of our mind the stark truth that millions of real human lives are on the line. And simultaneously, we’ve got to get to work, take stock of our resources, and prepare to throw ourselves full force into the movement.
Journalism is a linchpin of that movement. Even as we are reeling, we’re summoning up all the energy we can to face down what’s coming, because we know that one of the sharpest weapons against fascism is publishing the truth.
There are many terrifying planks to the Trump agenda, and we plan to devote ourselves to reporting thoroughly on each one and, crucially, covering the movements resisting them. We also recognize that Trump is a dire threat to journalism itself, and that we must take this seriously from the outset.
After the election, the four of us sat down to have some hard but necessary conversations about Truthout under a Trump presidency. How would we defend our publication from an avalanche of far right lawsuits that seek to bankrupt us? How would we keep our reporters safe if they need to cover outbreaks of political violence, or if they are targeted by authorities? How will we urgently produce the practical analysis, tools and movement coverage that you need right now — breaking through our normal routines to meet a terrifying moment in ways that best serve you?
It will be a tough, scary four years to produce social justice-driven journalism. We need to deliver news, strategy, liberatory ideas, tools and movement-sparking solutions with a force that we never have had to before. And at the same time, we desperately need to protect our ability to do so.
We know this is such a painful moment and donations may understandably be the last thing on your mind. But we must ask for your support, which is needed in a new and urgent way.
We promise we will kick into an even higher gear to give you truthful news that cuts against the disinformation and vitriol and hate and violence. We promise to publish analyses that will serve the needs of the movements we all rely on to survive the next four years, and even build for the future. We promise to be responsive, to recognize you as members of our community with a vital stake and voice in this work.
Please dig deep if you can, but a donation of any amount will be a truly meaningful and tangible action in this cataclysmic historical moment.
We’re with you. Let’s do all we can to move forward together.
With love, rage, and solidarity,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy