VIDEO: Why Voter ID Laws Make Birth Certificates the New Poll Taxes

VIDEO: Why Voter ID Laws Make Birth Certificates the New Poll Taxes
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2011/11/15/367426/texas-voter-id-law/

Lest we forget, the Constitution specifically prohibits a poll tax in order to vote. For decades, barriers – from poll taxes to literacy tests to grandfather clauses – were used to disenfranchise poor voters and minorities, but we eliminated such unconstitutional abridgments on voting rights. Now, new laws in Texas and elsewhere have the potential to disenfranchise millions of voters who can’t afford to get photo IDs.

Fortunately in Texas, the election law changes are currently being reviewed by the Justice Department in order to determine whether they comply with the Voting Rights Act of 1965. More news is expected to come in the next few months.

Later this week, ThinkProgress will discuss another major change in Texas’ election law that makes it much more difficult for non-profit organizations like the League of Women Voters to conduct voter registration drives.

that birth certificates can't just be our de facto voter registration (like in Canada).