This is actually a very amusing video - he starts by asking people in an unknown location about voter ID laws and then goes to Harlem to see what black people think. Harlem is part of NYC, and as the people who spoke to him there said, it's very easy to get an ID in NY. I know, because I used to live there. As far as I know, NY doesn't even have a voter ID law, so why even talk to people there?
A more HONEST approach would have been to speak with blacks in the areas that have made it difficult to comply with voter ID laws, such as GA, FL, and even TX. And it can be subtle - assuming you don't have a driver license and need official photo ID, DMV offices are being closed so you have to travel farther to get to one. And they are only open during business hours, so you have to take time off from work to go there. That's not often an option for some working at a minimum wage job. Same holds true for passports - at a USPS office, usually within restricted hours.
And the idea that you can get a photo ID on the internet? Please. Those are intended to get underage kids into bars and are probably illegal in most states...
Are voter ID laws racist? Let's just say that they're intended to make it more difficult for certain people to vote. Not all of those are black or Hispanic, but many of them are. Voter suppression takes several forms, and it's not all about voter ID laws. Look at what happened in GA with the crazy "exact match" law that resulted in about 50,000 voter registrations being put on hold. Or in FL or NV, where the GOP attempted to stop counting ballots when their candidate was ahead in the initial vote results - these were legal ballots cast that they argued should not be counted. In FL, it almost meant disenfranchising the military vote. Luckily, the courts are still the only branch of our government that is actually functioning properly in the age of Trump, and they shot down these attempts. |
