Cost of Freedom Project

Open Letter to Proud Black Voters,

I am writing to ask for your support for the Cost of Freedom Voter ID App, a user-friendly app that will cut through the confusion and help voters get an official photo ID.





As you know, the Justice Department blocked South Carolina from implementing its voter ID law; rulings on Texas and Mississippi are pending. As of this writing, strict photo ID requirements will be in effect in Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Tennessee and Wisconsin. There’s a 50-50 chance that Pennsylvania, a battleground state, will enact a voter ID law this year.

In 2000, we didn't know about the butterfly ballot design or clogged punch-card voting machines. Today, we know millions of citizens do not have government-issued photo ID. In Wisconsin, a swing state, 55% of African American men and 46% of Latino men do not have a driver’s license. Similarly, 49% of Black women and 59% of Latino women lack an official photo ID.

Among African Americans aged 18-24, 78% of Black men and 66% of Black women do not have a driver’s license. If the Wisconsin election is close, photo IDs could affect the outcome.

Casting a provisional ballot is not a solution. In 2008, 1,000 voters in Indiana were turned away because they did not have government-issued photo ID. That may not sound like a lot but George W. Bush won Florida by 537 votes.

Florida Rep. Frederica Wilson told MSNBC: "All of a sudden after the 2008 election, these (voter ID laws) miraculously appear. Why? Because we have a Black president in the White House and it is to stop all of the people of color from … coming out to vote."

The Cost of Freedom Voter ID App will quickly give users information on how to get a voter ID. With the rollback of hours at the DMV and bureaucratic delays in processing requests for birth certificates, voters cannot wait until September to get ready. They need to be educated about their state’s photo ID requirements and provided assistance now.

Please visit the Cost of Freedom Voter ID App campaign today and make a pledge. The civil rights generation fought for the right to vote. As voter ID laws proliferate across the country, it’s now our responsibility to remove impediments to the ballot box.

The struggle continues.

Sincerely,
Faye Anderson, Chief Evangelist
Cost of Freedom Project

The High Cost of a Voter ID

Guest Blog Post by: Faye Anderson.

I spent the weekend at the Random Hacks of Kindness hack-a-thon at Drexel University. The event brought together developers and subject matter experts to build mobile and web apps “to make the world a better place.”

I’m a voting rights advocate so I shared the problem facing millions of registered voters who, for the first time, must present government-issued photo ID in order to vote. Voters without a photo ID can apply for a free voter ID, but they need a photo ID to establish their identity.

Some background: In eight states – Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin – registered voters must show government-issued photo ID to vote.


In Crawford v. Marion County Election Board, the U. S. Supreme Court held that states with strict photo ID requirements must provide free IDs. While the voter ID is free, the document a citizen must produce to establish his or her identity is not free. Those documents include birth certificates and passports. Of course, if a voter has a passport, there would no need to get a voter ID.

The cost of obtaining a birth certificate ranges from $5.00 in Indiana to $25.00 in Georgia. In addition to the state fee, an applicant will have to pay for postage and photocopying (if requested by mail), transportation (if requested in person) or the VitalChek.com fee (if ordered online).

The strict photo ID requirements will disproportionately impact young and minority voters.

Voting rights groups, including the ACLU and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, are challenging the constitutionality of photo ID laws, as applied. But the countdown to Election Day 2012 has begun and voters without government-issued photo ID need assistance right now.

So on Sunday, we presented a prototype for the Cost of Freedom App, a voter education tool.

Developed by Joe Tricarico, John Campbell, Maneesha Sane and yours truly, the mobile and web app will provide voters with the information they need to apply for a voter ID. If they do not have documents to establish their identity, users will be able to type in their address to find out how to obtain a certified copy of their birth certificate and the cost. If they want to apply in person, they will be given the office location, office hours and directions using public transportation.

You don’t have to be a developer to help build the app. If you want to get involved, join the conversation on Facebook. On Twitter, use the hashtag #costoffreedom.