As we remember Black Suffrage day on February 3, the day in 1870 when black men were granted voting rights with women following later in 1920, a move is now affront to take back those rights with new voter ID laws. Although, blacks were granted suffrage, it took almost another 100 years before blacks living in the south were able to exercise their rights without disenfranchisement. Blacks were systematically denied the right to vote in many southern states, due to poll tax laws. Poll tax laws requiring black voters to pay a tax to vote remained on the books until January, 1966. Today there is a Republican led move to revive them in the form of a modern day poll tax known as the new voter ID laws.
In 2012, it is estimated that many blacks could again be denied the right to vote by having to pay money to vote—this time due to many new voter ID laws. Voter ID laws enacted now in over half the states, require voters to present some form of identification and fourteen states require a government issued photo ID. The Brennan Center estimates that 18 percent of all seniors and 25 percent of African-Americans don’t have picture IDs.
Forty-five years ago, Alabama, Texas, Arkansas and Mississippi still had poll tax laws. Eight states including Georgia and South Carolina refused to ratify the 24th amendment which abolished poll tax or any other tax to vote. Today states supporting former poll tax laws-Alabama, Texas, Georgia, South Carolina and four other states have some of the strictest photo voter ID laws in the country.
There is an uncanny pattern and parallel with the new voter ID laws and the former poll tax laws. Just like the poll tax laws, there is a cost to vote where voter ID laws are strictly imposed. Although the government issued ID needed to vote is free, the certified birth certificate or passport needed to obtain one costs money. And there is additional cost to obtain even more documents, in those cases where a name change is involved due to marriage or divorce.
Estimates are that it could cost up to $35 to obtain the necessary documents when not in the possession of the voter plus time off from work to obtain during working hours. And with many people struggling due to the economy, where voters don’t have enough money to buy food and put and keep a roof over their head, it’s unlikely they will have an extra $35 to get government documents to vote.
Although, Republican proponents of strict voter ID laws argue that these same documents are needed to fly, drive or cash a check. That’s not really true and not everyone flies or drives. The Transportation Security Administration (“TSA”) web site states that where those government documents are not available, there are other ways to verify the identity of the traveler and TSA will allow airport travelers to fly where the required documents are missing. “Not having a {photo} ID, does not necessarily mean a passenger won’t be allowed to fly. If passengers are willing to provide additional information, we have other means of substantiating someone’s identity, like using publicly available databases.” Air travelers may also use 2 non-photo ID forms of ID such as a social security card or credit card, as long as verifiable. The TSA, in protecting us against terrorist attacks is more flexible in their policy than these photo voter ID laws.
In Indiana in 2006, a black woman, Valeria Williams, in her 60s, was told that her telephone bill, letter from the Social Security Administration addressed to her and an expired driver’s license were not sufficient. Under the current TSA policy, she probably would have been allowed to fly. Under most bank check cashing policies, she also would have been able to cash a check. Her vote didn’t count.
And for all the alleged voter fraud by the GOP, the Justice Department’s nationwide study from 2002 – 2005 found 5 convictions for voting multiple times and 86 convictions for improper voting. This hardly seems a reason to require costs for voting.
Just as forms of racism are more subtle in 2012 than in 1966, the same holds true for the new modern day poll tax. In the case of money required to obtain government documents to vote—well, a rose by any other name is still a rose. And a poll tax by any other name is …well still a poll tax.
Debbie Hines is a lawyer, former prosecutor and legal /political commentator appearing in national and local media including CNN, the Michael Eric Dyson Show, XM Sirius radio, NBC , ABC and CBS -Washington, DC affiliates, NPR, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, USA Today, Black Enterprise among others. She founded LegalSpeaks, a progressive blog on gender and race in law and politics. She also writes for the Huffington Post.