Yesterday, Hardball and The Rachel Maddow Show ran segments highlighting the ongoing efforts by several state legislatures to make it more difficult to vote, blasting lawmakers for disenfranchising younger and older citizens. As Campus Progress has been reporting, state legislatures in Maine, Wisconsin, and numerous other states are working towards passing or have already passed laws that require voters to have ID cards with them at the polls, and end same-day registration for voting.
Both Rachel Maddow and Hardball’s Chris Matthews expressed indignation at this trend. “The people who have the least trouble with the ID cards, the people who drove to the polling station, have an ID right in their pockets called their driver`s license and they are middle class people with enough money to own a car,” said Matthews. “And [if] they`re young enough to drive and old enough to have enough money to own a car, they are probably able to vote. It`s the younger person and older person who might be disenfranchised.”
Democratic Congresswoman Chellie Pingree of Maine, one of the states in question, was Maddow’s guest for the segment on voter ID. She expressed concern that ending same-day registration for voting would disproportionately impact working-class people. “Frankly, it‘s an attack on working people,” she said. “I mean, many people don‘t have two separate days to get to the polls. It seems to me in these difficult times what we want is voters, engaged citizens, people who get out to vote.”
Both segments, which can be viewed below, do a good job of exposing this disturbing trend. We will continue to keep you updated on this issue here at Campus Progress.
Full Article: Voting: It’s (Apparently) Not for Everyone – Campus Progress.