Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Southern California Review of Law and Social Justice

Publication Date

2018

Date Added

2022-01-14

Abstract

This article argues that strict voter ID laws are typically unnecessary, unconstitutional, and impose arbitrary burdens on equal access to the right to vote. This article will examine the photo the burdens some states impose through voter ID laws in violation of the United States Constitution's equal protection principle. Part I evaluates voter identification requirements that supposedly combat voter fraud absent any credible evidence that in-person voter fraud is common. Part II evaluates constitutional challenges to voter identification laws after the Supreme Court's 2013 Shelby County v. Holder decision. Part III shares the view that President Trump's election integrity commission was intended to serve as a tool for voter suppression. This article concludes that the Supreme Court's decision in Crawford v. Marion County Election Board was wrongly decided because by declaring strict voter ID laws constitutional, it enabled the states to deny low-income minority voters access to the ballot in violation of the rationale of Harper.

First Page

73

Keywords

Voting rights, Voter ID laws

Disciplines

Civil Rights and Discrimination | Constitutional Law | Election Law

Publisher

University of Southern California Gould School of Law

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