Vice President Kamala Harris was decried for saying that some voter identification laws make it “almost impossible” for rural voters at the ballot box, with critics suggesting she doesn’t think rural citizens have the wherewithal to use a copy machine.
Election laws requiring voters to include a copy of identification with their ballots threaten to shut out those who might not have access to a photocopier, Harris said Friday.
“I don’t think that we should underestimate what that could mean, because, in some people’s mind, that means, well, you’re going to have to Xerox or photocopy your ID to send it in to prove that you are who you are,” Harris said on BET when asked about voter identification laws being a means of compromising with Republicans.
“There are a whole lot of people, especially people who live in rural communities, who don’t — there’s no Kinko’s, there’s no Office Max near them,” Harris said. “People have to understand that when we’re talking about voter ID laws, be clear about who you have in mind and what would be required of them to prove who they are. Of course, people have to prove who they are, but not in a way that makes it almost impossible for them to prove who they are.”
WHY REPUBLICANS ARE RALLYING AGAINST ‘WOKE’ RANKED-CHOICE VOTING
Critics suggested Harris doesn’t understand life in rural America.
“This reminds me that they made Kamala Harris who has only ever lived in cities an envoy to rural Americans,” said journalist Zaid Jilani.
This reminds me that they made Kamala Harris who has only ever lived in cities an envoy to rural Americans https://t.co/YErlc1kttT
— Zaid Jilani (@ZaidJilani) July 10, 2021
“Kamala and her party think rural communities don’t have cars, or shopping, or retail, or internet, or phones, or computers or mailboxes or,” said conservative commentator Stephen Miller.
Kamala and her party think rural communities don’t have cars, or shopping, or retail, or internet, or phones, or computers or mailboxes or
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) July 10, 2021
“Rural Americans avoid photography in general. They’re frightened the magic camera box will steal their soul,” wrote Ricochet editor-in-chief Jon Gabriel.
“Rural Americans avoid photography in general. They’re frightened the magic camera box will steal their soul.” https://t.co/yF3CgQYKZV
— Jon Gabriel (@exjon) July 10, 2021
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Republican-led states such as Georgia and Texas have passed amended rules that President Joe Biden and others have compared to the Jim Crow era. Harris referred to the Democrats’ push on voting laws as “the fight of our nation’s lifetime” in a speech Thursday.
House Democrats passed the For the People Act in March, which would restrict voter identification requirements, rules that Republicans generally support, and require states to register people to vote automatically and offer ballot drop boxes. Republicans have criticized the proposed law as a nationalization of election law and a violation of the Constitution.
