CREDIT: AP PHOTO/TAMIR KALIFA
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA AND HOUSTON, TEXAS — Issac Graves has voted in many presidential elections, but Tuesday was the first in which he had to remember to bring his passport.
“I’ve been voting since I was 18, and this voter ID thing, it’s a waste of time and money,” he told ThinkProgress outside his polling location in Richmond, Virginia. “It’s a step backwards and we shouldn’t have it. It suppresses turnout and it keeps minorities and poor people from voting… It’s outrageous.”
Graves, like millions of other voters across the U.S., faced new restrictions when he went to cast his presidential primary ballot on Tuesday — the first Super Tuesday since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a vital component of the Voting Rights Act.
Five of the 13 states holding primaries and caucuses on Tuesday have new voting rules in place — Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
And voters in nearly all of these states experienced problems.
Confusion And Last Minute Changes
In Alabama, the Secretary of State’s website, where voters could find their polling locations and times, was broken for several hours in the morning. In Georgia, malfunctioning poll books led to long wait times in Fulton and Gwinnett counties. In Texas, polling locations were consolidated at the last minute, and, combined with a controversial voter ID law, led to long lines and confusion. In Virginia, the Democratic Party told ThinkProgress many voters were unable to cast ballots because of inconsistencies in the voter registration database. The group also said it heard about confusion over the voter ID law and problems with voters being denied provisional ballots.
“For a lower turnout election, we’ve seen a shockingly large number of issues and these need to be addressed prior to the general election,” said press secretary Emily Bolton.
Even voters in Super Tuesday states without new laws reported problems. In Arkansas, some counties incorrectly told voters they had to present a photo ID in order to vote, even though the state’s voter ID law was ruled unconstitutional 2014. In Colorado, the voter registration locator on the state’s website was not functioning in the morning.
“We have already heard from hundreds of voters today wanting to participate in the electoral process but are confused by voting laws in their state,” said Chris Melody Fields, who helped run a national Election Protection hotline with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
In both Texas and Virginia, states formerly covered by the Voting Rights Act because of their history of racial voter suppression, voters told ThinkProgress they feared new voter ID laws passed by the Republican-controlled legislatures would discourage people of color from turning out to vote.
Virginia Delegate Alfonso Lopez (D-Arlington), who testified against his state’s voter ID law in the ongoing federal lawsuit, said he’s been hearing complaints not only from his own constituents, but Latino voters across the Commonwealth.
These laws are done with the intent of suppressing and depressing voter turnout.
“They’re upset,” he said. “There’s a lot of confusion. They tell me they were able to show their utility bill in the past and now can’t use that to vote. I think these laws are done with the intent of suppressing and depressing voter turnout, especially in communities that vote for Democrats.”
Lopez explained that many Latinos in Virginia, who work multiple jobs, do not have the time or resources to travel to the DMV to obtain an ID. One of his constituents, he said, is a cleaning lady who does not have a car and uses public transit to travel between her jobs. Taking the bus to the DMV or the local electoral board office would take her at least an hour each way.
“That doesn’t even count the time you’d need to spend there waiting in line,” he said. “When you’re trying to keep food on the plates of your kids, and pay the mortgage or rent, it’s problematic. She can’t take three or four hours out of her work day to make sure she can vote.”
At the same time, Lopez said, the Republican-controlled state legislature has voted down bills he believes would increase voter participation, such as measures to expand the hours of polling places and registrars.
In Texas, ThinkProgress observed at least two people at the polls early Tuesday turned away from the polls in a matter of 30 minutes because they were at the wrong precinct. Stephanie, a registered nurse who declined to give her last name, said she worried the confusion would depress turnout.
“It’s an inconvenience,” she said. “You want to vote, you allot time to take off from your job, and then when you get here, you have to go someone else.”
Read more
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2016/03/01/3755473/super-tueday-voting/
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