I Am Protecting My Right to Vote

By Erinda, Age 12, New Jersey

Dear Ms Stacy Abrams:

Before and after the constitution, Blacks, women, and people over the age of 18 were not allowed to vote. Today, one of the main impediments to voting is the extra requirements when someone doesn’t have a driver’s license. People who don’t know how to drive should be able to vote. Voters should not be required to present a driver’s license. Any proof of residents should be the requirement; particularly, if you voted before! It feels like voting is no longer a right, but a privilege. In a few years, I will be able to vote before I am able to buy a car. I want to vote!

The driver’s license regulation for voting excludes people that never took their driving tests and don’t have the need to drive in their state. Many voters without driver’s licenses become discouraged at the idea of voting because they believe that they can’t vote without a driver’s licenses or do not access to technology to get an ID from the motor vehicle department. Obstructions like these make low-income voters less inclined to vote, which causes underrepresentation. The non-driver identification card costs money. Getting a copy of your birth certificate also costs money. Only 13 states do not require identification to vote. The majority of those states are on the east and west coast. Strictest requirements are in the south and mid-west. Voter turnout has decreased due to this law, particularly Black and Latinx Americans.

After 2008, Supreme Court case of Crawford vs. Marion County, Indiana requirements for identification increased at polls across America. The case was about an Indiana law requiring voters to provide photo identification. Unfortunately, Marion County had an “Exact Match” Policy — which prevented 53,000 people from voting. It impacted mostly Blacks and LatinX. The exact match means that if a person has a hyphenated name, and the identification is correct, but the registration is not hyphenated, the person is not allowed to vote because of the mismatch. The United States is a democracy. Why are there efforts to delete minority voters from the voter rolls?

Ms. Abrams, I appreciate everything you are doing to protect my right to vote. I am in junior high. My generation also needs to do something.