Reality, in everyday usage, means "the state of things as they actually exist".
September 18, 2008
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Historic 2008 Election Could See Unprecedented Attempts to Bar African American Voters
On the subject of voter suppression and race, we turn to Queens College political science professor and bestselling author Andrew Hacker. In the latest issue of the New York Review of Books, Hacker writes, Obstacles to getting blacks to vote have always been formidable, but this year there will be barriers—some new, some long-standing—that previous campaigns have not had to face.
The state of Indiana, several years ago, decided, you know, theres such a thing as voter fraud—remember Tammany Hall, so—or people voting five different times, that kind of thing. So, therefore, what they said was, we need voter ID. And they decided everybody who came to vote had to show their drivers license with their photo on it, you know, like at the airport. Well, sounds OK, until you discover that not everybody is a driver.
Well, going to the state of Indiana, which enacted this, I actually went. Believe it or not, heres your tax dollars at work. The Federal Highway Administration keeps a record of how many adult residents of every state has a drivers license. And, by the way, the court didnt even look at this. And I discovered that in Indiana, 14 percent of adult residents do not have drivers license. Thats one-in-seven. Now, this means they cant vote, unless you go to a Bureau of Motor Vehicles office, which in Indiana could be miles away, and fill out a long form to get a non-drivers license. Well, not many people are going to do that, and in particular, not that many black voters are. Many of them are older; theyre poorer.
Here, we go to the state of Florida, which is the state youll always find when youre looking about voting problems. Under the Help America to Vote Act, very amiably titled statute, the states are now encouraged to rationalize the voting rolls. I prefer the term purge, a bit like laxative.
What they do—did in Florida was they sent out a letter to everybody, not just home foreclosures, everyone on the voting rolls, to say, in effect, hey, is your letter going to be delivered? Why? A lot of people have died, left the state. One understands this. But a tremendous number came back, very disproportionately from minorities—black, Hispanic poorer people. Why? Because particularly in the cities, black families are more likely to move. And, by the way, if you move, you dont think to call the voting board and tell them, Ive got a new address. So, all of those people, when they showed up to vote, you look on the list, youre not here anymore, you know, and theyre going to have real problems. Its a bit like getting your credit rating restored.
Alright. The Help America Vote Act was, in many ways, a response to Florida: no more dimpled chads, no more butterfly ballots. We understand that. But here we live in the twenty-first century, and theres this tendency to rationalize, you know, make the system rational. And they felt that voter rolls, registrations, were messy, cluttered with dead people, people who have moved around. Lets clean them up. And you say, hey, that sounds pretty good. Well, you get this question of mail thats returned.
But then there was another thing that they did in Florida. They decided, because when you register, you have to give your Social Security number, they would check your registration Social Security number that you gave with, people say, Washington, or actually the headquarters of Social Security is in Baltimore. They checked in Baltimore, and Baltimore sent back printout: No, we dont have this person. In fact, 28 percent of the inquiries made to Social Security kicks back: We dont know this person. You know, this happens with immigrant workers, too. And one reason could be somebody got married, changed their name, got divorced, took back their name. In some families, you actually can have two different names. So—but if you didnt pass the Social Security test, off the rolls also in Florida.
As everybody who follows this program knows, the United States has more people behind bars than any other country in the world proportionate to population. Russia used to be ahead of us. No longer. We have over two million people behind bars and even more on probation and parole. Now, obviously—and, by the way, black Americans constitute the largest single group behind prison. Six times as many black Americans, mainly young men, are incarcerated compared with whites, six times as many, and over twice as many compared with Hispanics. So, this is a huge group which cant even vote.
Only in two states, Vermont and Maine, can you actually vote while youre in prison. By the way, Canada allows that. So does Israel. But only two states. The other states vary.
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this is where the real i.d. can come in. If all americans had to have the republicans real i.d., it could be used for voter i.d.. This would ultamatly kill the real i.d..
dsspike51 3 weeks ago
I´m living in Brazil and I no longer have a U.S. driver's license. I guess I should loose my right to vote.
Like the late Nazi sympathizer and Reich Wing political strategists, Paul M. Weyrich, once said, "We don't want everyone to vote". The higher the voter turnout the worse for the Republicans. Damned that BS will of the people.
williamquatman 2 months ago
My mom is 87 yrs young...she doesnt drive, she has no bank account, she doesnt have a passport and she is not Republican.....mom has voted in every election since she was 21..... what hoops does she have to jump thru in order to vote? Please remove these tea baggers from office as soon as possible...pls remember when you vote....if you can vote....or are allowed to vote...
jmac56264 6 months ago
this is so fucking retarded. you need a photo id. cry me a fucking river, if you can get into town to vote, then you can get into town to get an identification card. there has nothing to do with class or race.
tiggstah 1 year ago