In a state with 1M license suspensions, Ohio voter ID law could depress turnout

[Diamond_Dog]

I never thought about this angle. Infuriating!

https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2023/01/13/in-a-state-with-1m-license-suspensions-ohio-voter-id-law-could-depress-turnout/

When Gov. Mike DeWine last week signed what’s been called the nation’s strictest voter ID law, it raised fears that it would disenfranchise large numbers of voters in poor communities where people are less likely to meet the new requirements.

Those fears seem to be supported by a September report that estimates 1 million Ohioans have suspended licenses because of debts from things such as a lack of insurance, unpaid fines, and court costs. That’s in a state with 8 million registered voters.

The analysis, by the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, said the suspensions by far fall most heavily on impoverished urban communities of color. In other words, debt-related suspensions disproportionately affect some of the communities least likely to vote for the Republican officials who passed and signed the voter ID law.

DeWine and legislative sponsors sold the state’s controversial law by saying that it would boost public confidence in elections. That confidence, however, has likely been undermined by numerous lies by former President Donald Trump, and by dubious voting claims by Secretary of State Frank LaRose, Ohio Auditor Keith Faber, and others.

Meanwhile, LaRose found the rate of possible fraud in the 2020 Ohio General Election to be a vanishingly small 0.0005%.

(snip)

Perhaps tellingly, college, and university IDs didn’t make the list of acceptable IDs approved by Ohio’s heavily gerrymandered Republican legislature. College students were credited with helping to deliver victories to Democrats in key races around the country in the November election.

Ohio’s voter ID law is already facing a legal challenge, which remains pending.