Disenfranchisement, Part II: A Modest Proposal
FACT: Depending on whom you listen to, somewhere between 170,000 and 240,000 Missourians could (potentially) be disenfranchised by a new law requiring voters to present a rare government-issued item called a “photo ID.”
FACT: By all accounts, the majority of those unable to pull off the superhuman feat of obtaining a photo ID are likely Democratic voters.
FACT: By 2008, many of those disenfranchised (potential) voters will have had their caretaker/Democratic committeeman assist them in obtaining a valid photo ID.
FACT: The return of those disenfranchised voters to the voting booth could be bad news for Republicans in 2008.
FACT: A few states, including Tennessee, forbid certain classes of ex-felons (murderers, rapists, child molesters) from voting. Missouri, meanwhile, allows ex-felons (except those convicted of election-related offenses) to vote.
OPINION: Republican legislators have nothing to lose and everything to gain by proposing, and forcing a vote on, a Tennessee-type law in the next session. Voting rights advocates will complain that such a law will disproportionately affect African-Americans. That is true. Of course, the law will also disproportionately affect men, making it every bit as sexist as it is racist.
If disenfranchisement is good enough for innocent Missourians, it’s certainly good enough for murderers, rapists, and child molesters.
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