Poll Tax, Version 2006?
Yesterday, HR 4844, the so-called Federal Election Integrity Act, was passed by the US House of Representatives. If it becomes law, the new bill will require Americans to produce photo IDs in order to vote by 2008, proof of citizenship by 2010. Proponents say that the bill is merely aimed at deterring fraud. Critics of the bill say that it’s a ploy to disenfranchise poor and minority voters, and that far greater problems loom over the electoral system than voter misrepresentation—namely scarcity of polling places, ill-prepared poll workers, faulty and hackable voting machines, and lack of language-appropriate voting materials. LUKE BURBANK of NPR’s Morning Edition has the story.