ID laws only make voting harder

By Rev. Leonard Jackson, North Las Vegas

Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2015 | 2 a.m.

Last year, Nevada saw the lowest voter turnout in decades. Given that, it is a mystery to me why Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske has repeatedly endorsed the idea of adopting a strict voter ID requirement, under which a voter must present one of a limited number of acceptable photo IDs. We should be thinking of how to increase turnout, not set up hurdles between voters and the ballot box. The impact of these ID barriers is worst for elderly, disabled and low-income people.

Registered voters already are matched against various databases, and our signatures are compared every time we vote. We should expand access and increase the efficiency of our elections, improvements that would also safeguard their integrity and make us the leader in the nation. To suppress the vote at a cost of millions to our state, during a time when our budget is already lacking and education is in dire need of improvement, is to steal from Nevada’s future.

This is a divisive issue, a distraction from real issues affecting real people and a waste of taxpayer dollars. Most importantly, it is an unraveling of the civil rights that the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and others fought for, as these new ID requirements would fall hardest on people who traditionally faced barriers at the polls. As we approach the holiday in King’s honor, I hope our elected officials turn their attention to wiser and more just solutions to the problems we face.