For over a decade, the left has been bashing the idea that a photo ID should be required to vote, labeling it racist and discriminatory against minorities in the U.S. They claim that those in favor of voter ID really just do not want minorities to vote and want to bring back the Jim Crow era. Like many other times, they are on the wrong side of history, as they are the real racists without even realizing it.
In this article, we’ll break down the claim that requiring a photo ID to vote is racist and explore the common-sense conservative case for why voter ID laws are not only fair, but essential to protecting our elections.
In This Argument…
- How voter ID laws are essential to protect the U.S. elections from fraud and cheating
- How the real racists are the ones opposing voter ID laws
- Why Democrats that oppose voter ID laws do it for their own benefit
Table of Contents
Are Voter ID Laws Racist?
Those against requiring a photo ID to vote because they believe it is racist often warn that it brings America back to the Jim Crow era. They claim that voter ID laws disproportionately affect minority voters.
Some of the arguments you might see them raise include:
- Impersonation fraud, double voting, vote buying, and absentee ballot fraud, is actually really rare. They claim that these are the types of fraud that those in favor of voter ID want to stop, but that these cases are infrequent. They assert that the real reason is that those in favor of voter ID are racist.
- Black and Latino voters are less likely to have the correct ID than white voters. This stems from multiple issues, such as that IDs are harder to secure for minorities, which prevents them from voting, and that they don’t live in areas with easy access to get IDs.
While these points may sound like a reasonable argument that voter ID laws are racist, the conservative response reveals a different truth, and ironically, it’s those calling voter ID laws “racist” who are often promoting a condescending view of minority voters, whether they realize it or not.
Why Voter ID Laws ARE NOT Racist
These two claims actually reveal the underlying racist or ignorance of those against voter ID laws.
The first, and most obvious point is that American citizens need an ID to do many tasks, and none of that is suddenly racist. Tasks like buying alcohol, flying on a commercial airline, getting a job, registering for food stamps, driving a car, opening a bank account, purchasing cannabis at a dispensary, visit the president, become the president, and much more. Where is the outrage that requiring a photo ID for these things is racist?
While statistics show that non-white populations reported lower rates of having a photo ID than the white population, the problem also aligns with income and age. Lower income individuals are less likely to have a photo ID, and young adults are less likely to have a photo ID. Yet, according to ProjectVote, 87% of Black Americans and 90% of Hispanic Americans possess some form of government-issued photo identification.
These statistics, while the rates are lower for non-white populations, says nothing about racist voter ID laws as you need an ID to do all of the common tasks in everyday life (as stated above), and more.
It is also extremely racist to believe that if voter ID laws are put into place, minorities would not be able to vote because they do not have an ID. It is racist to suggest that minorities aren’t smart enough or capable enough to obtain an ID just as a white individual would. Of course there are different factors that play into this, but the simple fact is that this is a racist assumption. Furthermore, 69% of black Americans and 82% of non-white Americans support requiring ID to vote. Are they racist to support this?
Why Voter ID Laws Are Essential
It is not racist to protect your own elections, especially from the millions of illegal immigrants that have migrated into the United States. Who do you think an illegal immigrant is most likely going to vote for. Someone who vows on deporting them or someone who gives them free transportation, housing, and iPhones? A vote from a non-citizen negates a vote from a citizen.
Since the country’s founding there has been a fight for non-white Americans to be allowed to vote, and now the Democrat party wants to minimize their vote by allowing non-citizens to potentially vote. This is a straight-up insult to minorities who struggled to win the right to vote. Without realizing it, many want to treat minorities as second-class citizens again.
Those against voter ID laws claim that it’s because they are racist, but hypocritically supported policy that hurt minority communities. Andrew Cuomo, for example, has publicly opposed strict voter ID laws while consistently fighting against school choice and charter school expansion which disproportionately harms low-income Black and Latino families. He also mandated that COVID-19 positive patients be returned to nursing homes, a decision that disproportionately affected low-income and minority communities where multi generational living is common.
Joe Biden, who is also opposed to voter ID laws because they are “racist”, supported and helped pass the 1994 Crime Bill, one of the most damaging policies for Black Americans in modern history.
This shows that these Democrats do not care about the individual or about racism, they only care about being elected. There is one simple reason why Democrats do not want to pass voter ID laws, and it’s because they want to cheat.
Do Voter ID Laws Really Change Voter Turnout?
Now there are real concerns about how minorities may be disproportionately considered because of many factors like DMV distance or lack of birth certificate, but current research suggests that voter ID laws have no significant effect on voter turnout.
A report by Jeffrey J. Harden called “Who benefits from voter identification laws?” stated that voter ID laws did not reduce turnout significantly for Black, Hispanic, or low-income voters.
Another report from Enrico Cantoni & Vincent Pons reported no significant effect of strict voter ID laws on turnout, registration, or participation, overall or among racial subgroups.
The Bottom Line
- Voter ID laws are essential to protect the U.S. elections from fraud and cheating
- The real racists are the ones opposing voter ID laws, because they believe minorities are ignorant and are incapable
- Democrats that oppose voter ID laws do it for their own benefit so that they can be elected by mass illegal immigration
- The majority of Americans (and Democrats!) support voter ID laws
- There is no evidence of voter ID laws significantly effecting voter turnout among any racial group