Howard Dean Statement on Supreme Court Voter ID Ruling

X Facebook Email Flipboard Pinterest Print Reddit

Last updated on July 1st, 2012 at 06:17 am

By a vote of 6-3 today, the Supreme Court ruled that an Indiana law requiring voters to show identification before they can vote is constitutional.

After the ruling was announced, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said, “Today’s decision by the Supreme Court is deeply disappointing and not justified by the facts. It is an affront to our nation’s ideal that all people, regardless of their background or beliefs, have the right to vote and have that vote counted. This case has never been about securing the right to vote. Instead, it has confirmed the lengths Republicans will go to in their attempts to limit voting rights in order to win elections. This decision runs counter to the principles on which our great nation was founded, and we will not let them get away with it.”

Dean vowed that the Democratic Party will continue to work to protect people’s right to vote, “But this ruling, while disappointing, will not halt the Democratic Party’s efforts to promote and protect the right to vote. No one should mistake this decision for an invitation, let alone a requirement, for other states to impose new photo ID requirements at the polls.
The DNC and state Democratic parties will redouble our efforts to block any new measure that seeks to strip any of our fellow citizens of the precious and fundamental right to vote. And we will fight in all states to remove existing obstacles to the right for all eligible Americans to vote and have their votes counted.”

This Supreme Court once again showed that it doesn’t care about individual rights by imposing a financial barrier to voting. The Indiana law would be fair if the state provided voter identification at no, or minimal cost.

For the poor and elderly, and identification requirement means that they might not be able to vote, but why would this court care about the poor or elderly any way. We all know that they mostly vote Democratic.

Dean statement:

http://www.democrats.org/a/2008/04/dnc_statement_o_34.php