Voting Rights in America, by Jeffrey Baxter

 Since 1984, no candidate in a United    States presidential election has won by  more than 10 million votes. In this, the  age of highly contested elections, both  political parties will use any method at  their disposal to win, whether it is moral  or not. A popular form of illicitly swaying  elections is to increase the difficulty of  voting for those voters who are statistically less likely to vote for a particular candidate (usually under the guise of preventing “voter fraud”). These anti-constitutional actions are immoral, and should be eliminated from the American political system.

While 30 separate states increased voting requirements prior to the 2012 election, one in particular showed a willingness to ignore the constitution that was unparalleled: Florida. While Florida’s 2011 attempt to require a photo ID for in-person voting at first appeared relatively mundane, it was the subsequent measure enacted by gov. Rick Scott (R), that was so outrageous that President Obama’s attorney general, Erik Holder, was forced to challenge it. Following the enactment of their photo ID law, Florida, only 90 days before the election, chose to purge its voter rolls (supposedly for the purpose of eliminating non US citizens who were illegally voting). Florida came up with a list of 182,000 voters (who disproportionately were Black or Hispanic). The state would notify the voters of the possible voting issue via mail, and if no response was received in reply, the person in question would be eliminated from the voting pool. It is not difficult to see that this is a blatant attempt at disenfranchising a large number of largely democratic minority voters. Of course, Rick Scott and his counterparts nationwide all use the same excuse for their rampant voter discrimination: voter fraud. Well, there have been two studies by the Florida government of Florida’s voting system, and they have unearthed a grand total of one case of voter fraud in the state. Yes, the state risked the voting rights of 182,000 people to potentially catch one case of voter fraud. One case.

Ultimately, voter fraud is an imaginary problem made up by despicable politicians who will go to any lengths to get themselves or their friends elected. In the words of Mike Turza, the leader of the republicans in the Pennsylvania house of representatives, “[Voter ID] is gonna allow Governor Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania.” This blatant admission of the secret agenda of those who wish to increase voting requirements should convince everyone to never trust a politician who wants to put heavier restrictions on voting. These people, who are both Democrats and Republicans, care nothing for our democracy or our constitution. All they care for is power for themselves and their political partners.