HOUSTON (AP) — The head of the NAACP says the group's fight against conservative-backed voter ID laws that have been passed in several states is akin to the great civil-rights battles of the 1960s.
Benjamin Todd Jealous, the CEO and president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, told delegates at the group's annual convention today in Houston that these are Selma and Montgomery times. He was referring to historic civil-rights confrontations in Alabama.
Many conservatives say voter identification laws are needed to stem voter fraud. Critics say voter fraud is rare and such laws are meant to suppress turnout among groups that tend to vote Democratic, including minorities.
Jealous says the rising tide of vote suppression must be overwhelmed by registration and mobilization.
Comments
why is it so darn hard for people to have a valid id card? what a bunch of bogus crap. get off your butt and get an id if you're an american citizen and stop whinning about it!
Mr Jealous needs to devote his time elsewhere.
I don't know why we have to show ID for gun purchases or check cashing either. My new Bottom Dollar discount grocer card should be good enough.
Or how about this redeye, no welfare check without proper photo i.d. How quickly do you think people would have the proper i.d. for that? I don't know, do you need any i.d. for that now? If so, like you said put a photo on that, but if no i.d. is needed now for welfare, make an i.d. necessary, and we'll see how fast people can get that i.d. in their possession. A one time thing to set up those welfare checks or keep those checks coming. Bet that would be done before November.
"Mr Jealous needs to devote his time elsewhere."
Simple and well said. Unfortuneately devoting time to real problems the blacks face, such as high school drop outs, single mothers, and a majority of criminals isn't cool amongst the constituents.
Blame whitey, it's been working for decades.
"Critics say voter fraud is rare" . I think voter fraud is more common than we think. Voter fraud in Chicago once got a man elected president. Voter fraud in Florida Got another man elected president.
Many of the reasons for voter photo ID have been well documented here.
Remember, votes count even if the voter can not.
Do not let illegitimate votes appear in the final tabulation, there is simply too much at stake this November.