Attorney General Merrick Garland, standing alongside Vice President Kamala Harris in Selma, Alabama, has taken a firm stance against voter ID laws, characterizing them as a scheme to “disadvantage minorities.” The occasion was the commemoration of the fifty-ninth anniversary of the Bloody Sunday attacks on civil rights marchers in Selma. Garland, tracing the voting rights history for black Americans since the end of slavery, asserted that the journey has been anything but steady, condemning voter ID laws as “discriminatory, burdensome, and unnecessary.”
Addressing the congregation at Selma’s Tabernacle Baptist Church, Garland claimed that voter ID laws have made it increasingly challenging “for millions of eligible voters to vote and to elect the representatives of their choice.” He identified a range of measures, including voting procedures, redistricting maps, and changes in voting administration, which he believes disadvantage minorities and threaten the foundation of the American system of government.
Garland, having bolstered the number of lawyers in the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division, labeled voter integrity laws as “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.” He emphasized the department’s commitment to thwarting the adoption of what he considers discriminatory redistricting plans that undermine the votes of black voters and voters of color.
Despite Garland’s strong stance, polls indicate that a majority of Americans, including 60 percent of Democrats, support some form of voter ID laws. A recent Rasmussen Reports poll revealed that 75 percent of Americans endorse voter ID laws requiring photo identification before voting, with only 21 percent opposing such regulations. This divergence in public opinion underscores the contentious nature of the debate surrounding voter integrity measures.
