The Washington Post reported last week about the case of a Kansas man who discovered that his voting registration had been purged from the state’s system. The man, Ralph Ortiz, is an Air Force veteran who served 13 years on military bases from Kansas to Middle East. Ortiz is a homeowner, taxpayer, has a driver’s license, and has vehicles registered in the state of Kansas. None of this was enough to prove he was a citizen, nor were his 13 years of active duty.
A battle is raging in state legislatures across the United States, and North Carolina, Texas, and Kansas are three such battlegrounds. New voter-identification laws are ostensibly created to prevent voter fraud. Their reach is much wider, however, and they implicitly target low-income and minority voters. In Kansas, the new law suspended all registered voters until a birth certificate or passport proves their citizenship.
On Feb. 18, the ACLU sued the Kansas state government, claiming the new steps implemented are “bureaucratic roadblocks imposed by state officials … these shameful actions have made Kansas an epicenter of voter suppression.”
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is the mastermind behind these new voting requirements, and he has been responsible for similar measures in a number of states. Kobach’s claims about voter fraud are irresponsible. They imagine a threat of voter fraud far larger than what exists in reality.
Many voting-fraud theories arose after President Obama’s 2012 victory over Mitt Romney, especially in swing states. Ohio was made a big example; there were 17 votes cast by noncitizens, and the margin of victory for Obama was 2 percentage points. This statement, issued by Ohio Secretary of State John Husted in 2012, fails to mention number of votes Obama won by, 166,172. In Pennsylvania, a number of precincts recorded a 100 percent voter rate for Obama, and this was often cited as a statistical impossibility.
Still, the mis- or false information spread in the wake of the last election has given state lawmakers an excuse to tighten voting laws, making it difficult for men like Ortiz to cast their votes. Though Iowa officials have flirted with stricter laws in the past, there is momentum in the opposite direction. Online voter registration reduces bureaucratic roadblocks and makes it far easier to register to vote. Iowa implemented an online registration system for the caucuses earlier this month.
Voting laws already disproportionately affect those working evening shifts, people with disabilities, traveling residents, and those without driver’s licenses, but new online and same-day methods of registration make it far easier for these groups. The ease of access could help explain how the two candidates who draw support from irregular voters, Donald Trump and Sen. Bernie Sanders, had such strong turnouts in the caucuses. The Iowa Supreme Court is looking into lifting the lifetime voting ban on felons, which would make Iowa a national leader in voting-rights reform.
The Daily Iowan Editorial Board believes that while the threat of voter fraud exists, it is miniscule. The threat of voter suppression, however, is widespread and prevalent. Voting should be made as easy and accessible as possible, because it is a fundamental right of every American. American democracy is built on the vote, and to undermine the voting process is to undermine the founding principles of the nation.