Just a few weeks ago we honored the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with many communities and organizations recognizing the 50th Anniversary of contact, activities and events that had involved Dr. King with their respective communities. Although the legacy of Dr. King is intact, his work remains incomplete and its now our task to finish the work of realizing his dream.
In Dr. King’s March on Washington address in 1963 he shared his observation, “A Negro in Mississippi cannot vote while the Negro in New York has nothing for which to vote.” Voter registration was a central aspect of Dr. King’s work. Today, voting rights are under real attack as 17 states have enacted strict Voter photo and ID laws that will deny or suppress our right to vote. Until these laws are repealed by removing from office those who perpetrated them, we must grapple with these new hurdles and get into compliance now.
Between the Dr. King’s holiday, January 15, and the commemoration of his loss, April 4, we must commit ourselves to checking our voter registrations to insure that are active, then obtain whatever Voter ID necessary to insure our voice is heard for the election in November. Waiting to get closer to the election can be detrimental as you can be caught in pressing long lines, purposeful budget cuts to state issuing departments and other tactics to insure IDs will not be received in time to vote.
According to the Voting Rights Institute, these voter photo and ID laws may negatively affect an estimated 11 percent of registered voters, up to 23,000,000 persons. Therefore, for the 275 days between February 1 and October 30, for all of those affected to be ready to vote on November 3, 83,000 IDs must be requested and processed each day. Accounting for weekends and holidays, the processing days reduce to 192, requiring 119,780 to be processed each day. The longer one waits, the higher the daily number required for processing increases and the more at risk your vote becomes to not being processed in time.
Although court rulings in Pennsylvania and Arizona have helped to restore voter rights, these rullings may be appealed. Similar laws in other states like Texas also have court challenges, but decisions may not come until summer and the extent of the rulings is currently unknown. It is better to get the ID now and not need it than the greater risk of being excluded from the important next mid-term election. In addition some states have caucuses and primaries this Spring or Summer which may require voter ID to participate.
This is a real problem in open primary states that allow crossover voting. Incumbents could lose a primary because their supporters did not have the proper voter ID. As 23 percent of minority voters are affected by these laws Black and Hispanic candidates and incumbents can be very vulnerable. Another reason to get the ID now. Women especially need to get this done early because of name changes from marriage or divorce to insure your voter ID and registration matches your government issued ID exactly. Also any correspondence received from your County Clerk regarding registration or address verification, make sure you return it as some County’s may use any lack of response to purge your voter registration.
After getting your ID, then assist immediately family members to do the same. Should they need official birth certificates or marriage license copies, now is the time to request those records, to get the voter ID. Once you and your immediate family is done, then assist family in other states, supporting them with cost and fees if necessary. Especially those residing in the states of Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin. Organizations can work with their memberships and communities to assist with ID’s.
Dr. King and other civil and voting rights leaders and workers gave their lives so we can now vote for a better America. We must do what it takes to protect our voting rights and show those early leaders and workers we have their back. Get your voter ID now.
Adam Dempsey
Elector, 1992 Electoral College, Colorado CD6
Denver, Colorado
