Minnesota's Poll Tax Bill.... How many states are doing this? [View All]

Tomorrow, a committee of the Minnesota state House of Representatives will hold hearings on a bill that could disenfranchise thousands of Minnesotans. Known by its bill number, HF 1443, this legislation would require voters to produce expensive documents to prove their citizenship in order to register to vote and photo ID when they come to the polls on Election Day.

This legislation is unnecessary and will likely harm eligible voters. Supporters of legislation like HF 1443 claim that the bill's requirements are needed because of voter fraud, but there is simply no significant evidence that our elections' integrity is threatened by non-citizens casting fraudulent votes or people voting under false identities.

But there is plenty of evidence that these requirements would keep eligible voters from the polls. Requiring costly documentation is the equivalent of a poll tax. The limited forms of documentation that prove citizenship are expensive -- a US passport costs $85, for example, while duplicate naturalization papers cost $210. 10% of Americans have no government-issued photo ID of any kind, and they are disproportionately people of color, elderly citizens, disabled citizens, youth, and low-income citizens. Because of the cost of acquiring a government-issued photo ID, a federal court has ruled that a Georgia ID requirement is equivalent to a poll tax and has prevented it from going into effect.

Voting is right for all Americans. Please call upon your representative to stand up for this principle by opposing HF 1443!

http://action.pfaw.org/MNVotingRights

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I have a SERIOUS problem with this bill, and expressed it loudly today to my state reps. This is a poll tax.

Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections provides us with recourse against wealth becoming an issue in the ability to vote.

http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/voting/intro/intro_b.htm
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?navby=volpage&court=us&vol=383&page=670