Attorney General Merrick Garland vowed Sunday to fight election security laws that state legislatures have passed, calling them “burdensome” and “unnecessary.”
Speaking at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Selma, Alabama to commemorate Bloody Sunday, Garland began by likening voter identification laws to Jim Crow laws, something his boss has done in the past.
“Progress in protecting the right to vote — especially for black Americans — has never been steady. Indeed throughout our country’s history … the right to vote in America has been under attack,” Garland said.
“And that is why the Justice Department is fighting back,” he continued. “That is why we are challenging efforts by states and jurisdictions to implement discriminatory, burdensome, and unnecessary restrictions on access to the ballot, including those related to mail-in voting, the use of drop boxes, and voter ID requirements.”
A recent Pew Research study found 81 percent of Americans support requiring people to show a “government-issued photo identification” in order to vote. Similarly, a Gallup poll from October 2022 found 79 percent of Americans support requiring a voter prove their identity before casting a ballot.
Thirty-six states currently have some form of voter ID laws.
In Alabama, for example, voters may present a drivers license, an Alabama photo voter ID, a non-driver ID, a state ID such as a pistol permit or booking sheet from prison, a federal ID, a passport, a student ID, or a military ID, among others. Voters who lack a valid form of ID can obtain a free
