Hi there,

I believe that people who are concerned about war and peace, democracy, the climate catastrophe, and economic and racial justice, are not a fringe minority, not even a silent majority, but the silenced majority—silenced by the corporate media. But we can't do it without your support. Thanks to a group of generous donors, all donations made today will be TRIPLED, which means your $15 gift is worth $45. With your contribution, we can continue to go to where the silence is, to bring you the voices of the silenced majority. Every dollar makes a difference. Thank you so much!

Democracy Now!
Amy Goodman

Non-commercial news needs your support.

We rely on contributions from you, our viewers and listeners to do our work. If you visit us daily or weekly or even just once a month, now is a great time to make your monthly contribution.

Please do your part today.

Donate

Commission Recommends Mandating ID Card to Vote

HeadlineSep 20, 2005

A federal commission on voting is recommending all voters be required to show a drivers license or a state issued ID card in order to vote by the year 2010. On Monday, the commission–headed by former President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James Baker–issued a series of recommended reforms of the nation’s voting system. Other suggestions included requiring paper verification of votes on electronic machines; for states rather than local jurisdictions supervise voter registration; and for the political parties to hold four regional presidential primaries following the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primaries. The photo ID provision is causing the most alarm. Spencer Overton, who served on the Carter-Baker Commission, said he dissented from the voter ID provisions. Overton said “The Commission’s proposal is so excessive that it would prevent eligible voters from proving their identity with even a valid U.S. passport or a U.S. military photo ID card.” Two others commissioners opposed the measure including former Senator Tom Dashchle. Critics say it will prevent many people from voting. According to the Washington Post 12 percent of the voting-age population does not have a driver’s license, and those without identification tend disproportionately to be people of color, the elderly and the poor

The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top