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. )
We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.
At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.
Over 80 percent of Truthout‘s funding comes from small individual donations from our community of readers, and the remaining 20 percent comes from a handful of social justice-oriented foundations. Over a third of our total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors, many of whom give because they want to help us keep Truthout barrier-free for everyone.
You can help by giving today. Whether you can make a small monthly donation or a larger gift, Truthout only works with your support.