News and Society

Most elections are accused of being rigged. From the machines used in counting ballots up to the credibility of poll watchers, it's difficult to discount the possibility of cheating in the polls. The higher the position is, the more suspicious people get. In the past, it was easy to see who won because of cheating. But these days, electoral frauds come in a variety of disguised tactics, and the most common of these is vote suppression.

In a nutshell, vote suppression is the process of disenfranchising a particular group of people through the use of simple manipulation techniques that are disguised as legal laws and legislations. In the United States, for instance, 32 states have announced that people who cannot present government-issued identification will not be allowed to vote. This condition summarizes the basic premise of all kinds of Voter ID laws, and they target the following groups: students, youth, minorities, and elderly.

Obviously, voter suppression has a lot of negative impact on the country. But how exactly can it hurt everyone in the United States?

For one, the denial of one's right to vote just because one doesn't have an ID is the antithesis of what democracy is all about. In short, it is a violation of everyone's constitutional right to vote. Statistics show that 25% of African American, 20% of Asians, and 18% of students do not have any government-issued identification. If you do the math, there are millions of disenfranchised citizens who are stripped of their right to choose whoever they want to lead them.

Another point to consider is that proponents of Voter ID laws say these laws came about because of electoral frauds. However, there is no real evidence that can show the presence of frauds in significant numbers. That said, one can't discount the idea that these laws were passed to try to protect the interests of only a few group of people (or perhaps a party). These people can make up their own reasons just to make sure that they can get control and power.

Last, voter suppression is totally discriminatory. Surely, before passing a bill, state legislatures have to look at statistics to make sure that a law is good for everyone. But in the case of Voter ID laws, it looks like these legislatures turned a blind eye on the statistics. As previously mentioned, a significant number of African Americans, Asians, the elderly, and students are going to be affected by these laws.

Stanley Buford has appeared as a guest on the nationally televised show, "Heartbeat of America," and has been quoted in several news articles. He is a recipient of the National Leadership Award in Business and the "Keeping America Strong" Award. He is a member of the Monument of Faith Evangelistic Church where he serves as a teacher in the Children's' Church. He is author of the Amazon.com bestselling parent book, titled, Not All Teachers Are Parents, But All Parents Are Teachers!; recently endorsed by President Barack Obama as "an interesting book." To learn more about Stanley, please visit http://www.stanleygbuford.com/

View the original article here