respond to classmates posts
Week 5 Discussion
Tiffany Hart
Kansas, Indiana, and Mississippi and Virginia are only a few states with strict voter id laws. "In Wisconsin, meanwhile, a state court judge on Monday blocked the state's new voter ID law, ruling that it unconstitutionally created a new (and lower) class of citizen-voter", Cohen (2002). I personally feel that we should have these laws in place because its less time consuming form of discrimination than a literacy test. Our current system gives too much power to the septuagenarian volunteers. it could also help the countries high voter turn out rate.Some drawbacks of the voter id system puts a burden on privileged elites to choose elected officials. . A lawsuit filed against Alabama in early December 2015 cites the example of a high schooler who cant vote because she lacks a drivers license. Its situations like this that challenges my position on the matter but overall its a progressive system.
It seems that Americans are in support of the voter id laws-those which require individuals to show government issued identification when they vote. Most Americans, including Democrats, think voter fraud is a real problem and don't mind voter ID laws as a solution, according to academic research that suggests Republicans are winning the argument over voting rights and suppression. While Republicans believe that the answer to voter fraud is to strengthen voter ID laws, others argue that doing so could actually harm the election process.
In Colorado, Nevada and Arizona the nonwhite proportion of the electorate grows by about half a percentage point -- meaning that in every presidential election, the minority share of the vote increases by 2 percent, a huge amount in a closely divided country. The larger purpose and effect of the laws is to disenfranchise Hispanic voters, other minorities, and the poor -- most of whom, let's also be clear, vote for Democrats.Overall I feel we need strict voter id laws to protect individuals and the voting system as a whole.
Emmanuell Phanord
Week 5 discussion
Voter ID Laws in the United States
The voter ID regulations in the United States hold that voters in seven states will be needed to show photo identification to cast their votes. These rules applied in 2016 general elections. In the year 2012, only four states had required the voters to show their photos to vote. For this reason, it seems that many countries have recently made the voting rules stricter for the voters. The aim here is to make sure that the voting process is open and transparent and that the people can prompt their will in a free and fair manner (Hershey, 2017).
Voter fraud is indeed a severe problem for the American democracy. It is because voter fraud denies the people to express their will through the ballot in a free and fair manner. For this reason, it is significant for the states to enact strict laws which will ensure that the people given the opportunity to have their will expressed in an unbiased manner. The media have been educating the public on the importance of adhering to the laws regarding voting. However, some media houses have insisted that these strict requirements may be there to serve the interests of some parties and not the citizens (Hershey, 2017). It is because the major political parties seem to be shifting the blame on the people and not themselves. The political parties have the mandate to educate the people on how to adhere to the rules of voting.
I think the trends in which the states are adopting stricter voting laws are meant to ensure that the voting process is more free and fair. It will serve the interests of all citizens. It will go a long way of ensuring that the democracy of the United States continues to be strong.
