Voting rights 50 years after Selma march

Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965 was declared unconstitutional in 2013 by the United States Supreme Court in a 5-4 vote. Some people believe that this decision has compromised the voting rights of citizens of color, the lower class and the elderly in the United States.

According to the U.S. Constitution, Section 4 is the key component to the VRA which is a formula that is based on voting patterns to identify areas where there are high amounts of voting discrimination due to race. This guarantees citizens of all ethnicities and education levels the right to vote and register to vote without discrimination.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union, 30 states now have a voter ID laws. Some of these include: Indiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, Texas, Kansas, Florida, Michigan, and Louisiana.

The voter ID law was made effective in Mississippi on June 3, 2014 when 62 percent of Mississippi voters approved the citizen-initiated constitutional amendment in a vote on Nov. 8, 2011.

The new law says people must show one of 10 specific types of photo ID to vote. Some of these include: driver’s license; an ID issued by any branch of Mississippi state government; a U.S. passport; a government employee ID card; a gun license; a student ID from an accredited public or private college; a U.S. military ID; a tribal photo ID; or any other photo ID issued by any branch of the federal government.

Delbert Hosemann, Mississippi’s Secretary of State said in a press conference regarding the voter ID law, “We’re not the same old Mississippi our fathers’ fathers were…Mississippi has earned and deserves the right to be treated like every other state in their voting process. We will continue to do so in a non discriminatory manner. We have come a long way in a half century.”

Statistics from the Bipartisan Policy Center have shown that the U.S. Voter turnout dropped from 62.3 percent in 2008 to an estimated 57.5 percent in 2012, despite an increase of over 8 million citizens in the eligible population. In addition, statistics from the United States Election Project show that the 2014 midterm elections show that the turnout dramatically dropped to 35.9 percent across the country, including a staggering 28.9 percent in Mississippi.

Although voter turnout for the midterm election is always lower than the primary and presidential elections, they seem to have dropped more after the legislation requiring voters to provide a photo ID was passed. The U.S. Election Project shows that the lowest statistics comes from the states where voter ID laws are in place.

Many conservatives have said that the purpose for the Voter ID laws is to combat voter fraud. However, local activist Tyson Jackson, Lead Organizer for Mississippi Alliance of State Employees disagrees.

“We can look at statistics and we can show that Mississippi has very, very, very, very low instances of voter fraud so you hardly ever see voter fraud; and when voting fraud does happen, it’s not even really the particular targeted communities with the voter ID laws, it’s the other communities that are saying there is voter fraud. They’re the ones that’s actually are doing the voter fraud. We just seen this in past elections,” said Jackson.

He added, “We know the reason why they wanted voter ID here, particularly if we look at Mississippi, back in 2008 they never expected a black man to be President of the United States of America. What they saw was that this blue base of Democrats was able to mobilize. It showed power.”

Some JSU students agree with Jackson and feel the voter ID law aims to disenfranchise minority voters.

“I think it is a tactical measure to disenfranchise as many African-American voters from the process altogether. Voting is a right afforded to all American citizens and should be expressed without parameters,” said George Nelson, an educational leadership Ph.D. candidate from Jackson, Miss.

Tatiana Smith, a senior psychology major from Detroit, Mich. said, “Voting should be simple, and this is making it complicated for those who can’t afford it, some already have a hard time simply getting transportation to vote.”

Constance Robinson and Laura Coleman contributed.

Part 2 of: Voting Rights 50 Years after Selma march will run in the March 19th issue of The Blue & White Flash.