NAACP: Voter Rights Violated By Restrictive Measures Targeting Minorities

The 2008 presidential election was historic in a number of ways. Not only did the country elect its first black president, but minority voters turned out in record numbers. However, as the nation faces the next election, several of the same states that saw unprecedented participation by blacks and Hispanics are enacting voting restrictions that may weaken the minority influence in 2012.

A new NAACP report has uncovered a "coordinated and comprehensive assault" against voting rights, revealing a direct connection between increasing voter turnout within the African American and Latino community and the magnitude of restrictive measures to block those voters' access to the polls. The study found 14 states passed a total of 25 actions that target minority voting rights.

"These new tactics will weaken the electoral strength of communities of color, students and the poor," NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Jeolous reportedly said during a press conference call. "[And] attack the very electoral strength that made possible the nation's first black president.

The report deemed the measures an attempt to "block the vote" as a result of increased levels of minority political participation and growth of communities of color. Jealous said the NAACP plans to reach out to secretaries of state, members of Congress, the Department of Justice and the United Nations.

According to the study, four of the 14 states that passed restrictive voting laws in 2011, including Texas, Georgia, Florida and North Carolina, also demonstrated the largest growth in black population in the past decade, while three (South Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee) had the highest growth in their Latino communities.

The 2008 presidential election had the most diverse voter participation in U.S. history, with blacks making up 12.1 percent, Hispanics 7.4 percent and Asians 2.5 percent of the 131 million people who voted. This result was largely due to the increase both in the number and turnout rates of eligible minority voters.

But this trend may not continue in 2012, as the civil rights group says states have employed measures that tighten voter registration requirements, reduce early or absentee ballott voting opportunities and restrict voter registration drives, which minority communities rely heavily on.

In the report, the NAACP expressed it's goal to raise awareness of this growing trend of infringing upon voter rights.

"We have created this report as a tool to sound the alarm," the study says. "To inform voters, and to initiate a campaign to protect the free and equal exercise of our right to vote."

Check out video below of Huff Post Black Voices senior reporter Trymaine Lee discussing voter ID laws on MSNBC.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Comments

[Moderate Independent]

02:59 PM on 12/14/2011

You need an ID to do the following:
Cash a check
Get on a plane or train
Get into a bar or tavern
Prove who you are
Drive a car or other vehicle
Register your possessions (car, for example)
But it is racist to ask for an ID to vote????? C'mon Man!

[tom high]

10:48 AM on 12/08/2011

I don't understand why showing ID is a big issue with Blacks and Hispanics, I agree with those states that make it mandatory to show ID, I feel there are bigger issues that need to be addressed by the NAACP and that is illegal immigration, what has the NAACP done to combat this invasion that cost billions to Americans? ,have driven blacks out of communities , fueled increase of drugs, and murders to the point the federal government stepped in .

[jackieoclassist]

11:48 AM on 12/10/2011

It's a big issue because in each of these states-and in most states-the people most likely to be making their living without the luxury of a vehicle, and therefore without a license are minorities. Incidentally, it also disenfranchises the elderly, who no longer drive and often do not maintain a license and college students who very often rely on public transportation and are legal residents in other states. Often, states won't allow them to become legal residents in the state where they attend school.
Essentially, this is a law that targets populations who are most likely to vote democratic.
PS-You're painting illegal immigration with a pretty broad brush and clearly don't have a good grasp on the actual problems involved. You might want to look into the matter a little more thoroughly or you risk sounding bigoted.

[Ynewyork]

06:26 PM on 12/07/2011

I have followed the NAACP for years. At first their mission was credible. Now the NAACP has allowed itself to become a treasonous cancer upon the USA. It is now time to dissolve the NAACP. We have a black president, and a black attorney general and many other blacks in high political positions. The NAACP is no longer needed. To raise money through donations the NAACP has become politically and racially divisive to survive, and it must go.

[SamAdamsLife]

10:16 AM on 12/07/2011

I don't know how the hell they're doing that, if everytime I go to vote I see nothing BUT minorities conducting the polls. Where is this happening?

[seanrm92]

12:37 AM on 12/07/2011

I think it's racist in itself for the NAACP to assume that minorities aren't capable of going down to a DMV and picking up a simple photo ID. If a person is a legal citizen (which is a requirement to be able to vote anyway), then they shouldn't have a problem--regardless of race. These laws don't target minorities, they target illegal voters. We all want an uncorrupt democracy, right???

The NAACP needs to stop living in the 1950s and quit playing the "race" card whenever they feel like it. I mean, they're really one of the biggest fear mongers around these days. All they have to do is cry "racism" and every PC politician from Nantucket to Honolulu will fall in line right behind them.

You want to truly abolish racism in America? Stop resurrecting it. That goes for everyone, including the NAACP.

[SamAdamsLife]

10:15 AM on 12/07/2011

agreed

[harrisg9]

06:56 PM on 12/06/2011

OK, I understand about the elderly not having ID. Because they don't have a need for ID. Most of them have stop drinking, they don't write letters, so they don't go to the post office,they don't smoke, they don't rent DVD's, they don't rent cars, they don't go to bars. They are on a fixed income, they do pay for their medicine, and they have direct deposit for their checks. Leave them alone, let them show their Medicare Card. They were raised on their word being their bond, and to tell the truth.

[bhaines213]

05:09 PM on 12/06/2011

Hopefully, the Justice Department will look at all the GOP attempts at voter suppression around the country. I think a lot of these new laws violate the Voters Rights Act of 1965.

[Viper1st]

05:15 PM on 12/06/2011

Beg to Differ ~

Indiana has the toughest Voter I.D. Law in the Nation

The United States Supreme Court has upheld its constitutionality

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/28/AR2008042800968.html

[racebaiter]

07:50 PM on 12/06/2011

I hope they look at the "Panthers" first.

[renk175]

03:36 PM on 12/06/2011

The NAACP is a joke!

[renk175]

03:35 PM on 12/06/2011

Why is it so hard to have an ID?

[Viper1st]

05:25 PM on 12/06/2011

LOL ~ Not hard at all for 11.2 million illegals in the USA ~ illegally

How do you think they obtained jobs in the USA? As unauthorized to work in the USA

[UnspoiledGenYer]

03:34 PM on 12/06/2011

This article is about VOTER RIGHTS, right? Let's try sticking to the topic at hand -_-

[k1dork]

03:25 PM on 12/06/2011

As a black man fed up with the racial nonsense in America, I imagine a fictional utopia where we wouldn't have to deal with this foolishness.

For arguments sake, let's say this utopia had NO white people, and is just full of black and brown people. Would it still be that unreasonable to have people in our black and brown utopia have ID when they vote? Is that really too much to ask? Is it really too hard for people to obtain such IDs?

I don't think so. A lot of these things people get indignant about kinda make sense when the race factor is taken out. Our society needs help.

[racebaiter]

07:52 PM on 12/06/2011

Insightful. F&F

[l78lancer]

02:56 PM on 12/06/2011

One of the things that the NAACP seems to never address is the change in state laws that, while "legal," disenfranchise minority voters. Case in point - PA is attempting to change how electoral votes are awarded. They are moving from a popular vote system to one where the legislature makes that determination. If they do that they will essentially disregard the heavy minority vote from the Philadelphia and Pittsburg areas. This is important because even though PA swings back and forth between GOP and Democratic governors because of the vote distribution, it typically leans left for national - presidential elections. Changing the law effecively eliminates the population centers. This is important because there is no constitutional mandate for a popular presidential vote, yet this goes ignored. The republicans recognize this gap in the constitution and working quickly to take advantage of it. This shift in the awarding of electoral votes is "complimented" by the 10-year redistricting, where there seems to be an unending effort to reduce democratic districts. Many of these districts in PA have significant minority populations.

Other states are dealing with similar issues, and serious discussion needs to be brought to the fore on it.

[Consequence]

02:39 PM on 12/06/2011

You need a photo ID to:

- Rent a DVD
- Rent a car
- Cash a check
- Buy alcohol
- Buy cigarettes
- Enter a bar
- Board a plane
- Register for Welfare
- Pick up a package at the Post Office

Many day cares require a photo ID in order to pick up your own child.
You also need ID if you are ever pulled over by a cop while driving.

If you can't find the time between now and Nov. 2012 to take your utilities bill or phone bill to your county court house to get a FREE photo ID, then the sympathy meter pegs out at zero if you suddenly find yourself unable to vote.

With rights comes responsibilies.

[Jelly Jam]

11:09 PM on 12/06/2011

But all those things aren't inalienable rights. Voting is not a privilege. It is a guaranteed right and responsibility of Americans. Whether you have an ID or not, every American of legal voting age has a vote that cannot be blocked by anybody else or any law.

[Viper1st]

01:42 PM on 12/06/2011

From the United States Supreme Court ~

"Scalia, favoring a broader ruling in defense of voter ID laws, said, "The universally applicable requirements of Indiana's voter-identification law are eminently reasonable. The burden of acquiring, possessing and showing a free photo identification is simply not severe, because it does not 'even represent a significant increase over the usual burdens of voting.'"

"Stevens: Law justified to protect integrity, reliability of electoral process"

[Consequence]

12:30 PM on 12/06/2011

The NAACP is full of beans.

The majority of Seniors in this country vote Conservative, yet many have no legal I.D.

This law impacts Republicans negatively, as well, yet - unlike Liberals - they are more concerned with voter fraud and ensuring that only those who have the legal right to vote, are allowed to.

The Dems can only win by encouraging the "Vote early, vote often" mantra.

[chelledc]

02:44 PM on 12/06/2011

It could be that they know that presidential candidates don't get more than 15% of the black vote. Republicans stand to lose rroe by letting blacks vote than losing a few senior votes. Senior votes are far more spread out than blacks and with the push for Medicare and Medicaid cuts the no ID thing would work to get in the 25% of seniors who might be persuaded to swing to either side.

[eyepatch]

03:03 PM on 12/06/2011

you wrote;
'The majority of Seniors in this country vote Conservati­ve, yet many have no legal I.D.'

that statement is marketedly false on it's face! Elderly minorities (mostly black)
do not vote republican....

....these new voting laws enacted across the country will disenfranchise elderly
black primarily. Elderly people who have voted at the same percinct for decades
should not have to endure this newly imposed hurdle...it's just the 'New Jim Crow'....