Barack Obama

Sen. Obama opposes proposal for voter ID

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

COPLEY NEWS SERVICE
By Dori Meinert

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., on Tuesday introduced a resolution opposing a private commission's recommendation to require all Americans to show photo identification before voting, saying it would create an obstacle for the poor, minorities, disabled and elderly.

The private commission, co-chaired by former President Jimmy Carter, recommended on Monday that voters be required to show a free government photo ID.

But Obama argued that even a free ID system could be burdensome to people without transportation to obtain it.

"This is a requirement that would be so restrictive that you couldn't even prove your identity in order to vote with a U.S. military photo ID card or a U.S. passport," Obama said. "This is a mistake."

Obama, the only black American in the Senate, was joined in opposing the recommendation by Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., a hero of the civil rights movement, and Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., the most senior member of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Lewis said the photo ID requirements passed by Georgia and other states are "a form of a poll tax," used once in some states to keep blacks from voting.

"These laws take us back to the dark past where only a few groups of American citizens could participate in our democracy," Lewis said.

Voter rights and civil rights groups have challenged Georgia's law in court.

"Georgia has instituted a law that requires some of the poorest among us - those who probably don't have access to transportation - to possibly travel great distances and pay up to $35 just for the privilege of making their voice heard," Obama said.

"This is an extraordinarily heavy burden for the 150,000 Georgians over 70 who do not have government-issued photo identification. If other states followed suit, it would be a burden for nearly 1 in 8 Americans who do not have a driver's license. And, we've got to remember who these folks are - disproportionately poor and without easy access to all the documents necessary for a government-issued ID," Obama said.

Nationally, up to 10 percent of Americans are estimated not to have driver's licenses or state-issued IDs, Obama said. Three million disabled people do not have driver's licenses. Black Americans are twice as likely not to have a driver's license as white Americans. Only 22 percent of black males between the ages of 18 and 24 have a driver's license.

"I think this gives you a sense of who could potentially be impacted by this situation," Obama said.