President Barack Obama slammed Republicans on Friday for supporting voter identification law and labeled the GOP as a threat to the right to vote.
President Obama spoke out against Republicans’ efforts to pass voter ID laws during a speech at Al Sharpton’s National Action Network conference in New York City.
“The right to vote is threatened today in a way that it has not been since the Voting Rights Act became the law nearly five decades ago,” the president told the audience. “Across the country, Republicans have led efforts to pass laws making it harder, not easier for people to vote.”
Obama then went on to discuss new voting laws that were passed across the country after the United States Supreme Court struck down a key portion of the Voting Rights Act last year. Such legislation, he said, make it more difficult for people, specifically minorities, women and senior citizens, to get to the ballot box.
“The principle of one person, one vote is the single greatest tool we have to redress an unjust status quo,” Obama said. “You would think there would not be an argument about this anymore.”
While Republicans are pushing for stricter voter ID laws as a way to combat voter fraud, Democrats, including President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder, argue such efforts are targeted at keeping minorities and the poor away from the polls — demographics that typically vote Democratic.
The president did say he wanted to combat voter fraud, but called Republicans’ attempts to do so “bogus.”
“Voter fraud would impinge on our democracy, as well. We don’t want folks voting that shouldn’t be voting. We all agree on that,” he told conference attendees. “But there’s a reason why those who argue that harsh restrictions on voting are somehow necessary to fight voter fraud are having such a hard time proving any real, widespread fraud. … So let’s be clear — the real voter fraud is people who try to deny our rights by making bogus arguments about voter fraud.”
After the Supreme Court’s ruling, several states including Texas and North Carolina passed laws requiring residents to show photo ID before they vote. The Obama administration, led by Holder, however, has been ardent in fighting such legislation.
The attorney general even went so far as to file a lawsuit against the state of Texas to prevent voter ID laws from going into effect.
