The passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was to secure voting equality across the country. Despite the passage of this law in 2011, legislatures in 34 states introduced voter ID laws that, in effect would disenfranchise more than 21 million eligible voters who don’t possess state issued ID.
Voter ID laws requiring government issued ID denies equal voting power to the elderly, disabled, young and minority voters. We know this is so because 15% of voters earning less than $35,000 per year do not have a government issued ID; 18% of 18-24 year olds do not have an ID with their current address; 25% of eligible African Americans do not have government issued ID; 18% of senior citizens do not have a current state issued photo ID; and people with disabilities are burdened by voter ID legislation because they often lack access to transportation and often need additional assistance to obtain identification.

We must ensure that the fundamental right to vote is protected for all eligible voters. To that end I encourage you to support H.R. 3316: Voter Access Protection Act of 2011. This legislation prohibits election officials from requiring individuals to provide photo identification as a condition of obtaining or casting a ballot in an election for Federal office or registering to vote in elections for Federal office, and for other purposes.