Obama: Voter ID Laws Intended to Suppress Vote; Voter Fraud ‘Just Not a Common Crime’

“State legislatures have instituted procedures and practices that although on the surface may appear neutral have the effect of discouraging people from voting may have a disproportional effect on certain kinds of folks voting. And if in fact those practices, those trends, those tendencies, are allowed to continue unanswered, then over time the hard-won battles of 50 years ago erode. And our democracy erodes. And that means that the decisions that are made in the corridors of power all across this country begin to reflect the interests of the few instead of the interests of the many. So we've got serious business to attend to here. One order of business is for our Congress to pass an updated version of the Voting Rights Act – (applause) -- that would correct some of the problems that have arisen. And I said – I said when I was in Selma that we're glad you're here, members of Congress, but we'll be even more glad, we'll be even more celebratory mood, if you go back to Washington and reaffirm America’s commitment to what was fought for here at this bridge.

“Now, so far that hasn't happened. John Lewis is ready to do it. There’s legislation pending. There are people of goodwill on both sides of the aisle who are prepared to move it, but it keeps on slipping as a priority. Part of the reason we're here is to reaffirm to members of Congress this has to be a priority. If this isn't working, then nothing's working. We’ve got to get it done. (Applause)

“At the state levels, we've got some outstanding members of state legislatures, California, Florida, who have been championing mechanisms to get more people voting, early voting, online registration, but sadly too many states are making it harder for folks to vote, instituting photo ID laws that on the surface sound good, if you poll the average American they’ll say yeah, you should have to show your photo ID, but in practice it turns out that for seniors and for poorer folks that's not always easy to do. And by the way, it doesn't actually address a real problem because there are almost no instances of people going to vote in somebody else's name, it's just not -- it turns out it's just not a common crime. (Laughter)

Folks might think about, you know, shoplifting, you know. Attorney general, you know more about the crime statistics than I do, but I am certain because we've actually looked at the data on this that almost nobody wakes up saying I’m going to go vote in somebody else's name. Doesn't happen. So the only reason to pass this law despite the reasonableness of how it sounds, is to make it harder for folks to vote. You've got state legislatures that are rolling back early voting. I don't understand why anybody would be opposed to spreading out voting so that people can arrange to vote depending on their schedule. Because it's hard. If you are working the midnight shift, you got to get your kid to school, have to travel by bus, and you're a single mom, it may be difficult for you to be able to vote precisely in that window that's provided, and there's no evidence that as a consequence of early voting that has increased fraud, that people somehow have become less committed to democracy, that they don't feel that same sense of civic pride as they do if there's just one day of voting. There's no evidence of that. The reason to roll back early voting is because you want to make it harder for folks to vote.

“So in theory everybody's in favor of the right to vote. In practice, we have state legislatures that are deliberately trying to make it harder for people to vote. and some of them, frankly, are not that shy about saying so. Think about that. Think about that. How can you rationalize making harder to people to vote, how can you rationalize penalizing people because they don't have a lot of money, not being able to vote? That's contrary to who we are. That's not what we believe. That's not what John Lewis fought for. The United States of America, we should have no patience and no tolerance for the laws that aim at disenfranchising our fellow citizens. So we've got to keep pushing. At the federal level, we need a new Voting Rights Act passed. At the state and local level, we've got to fight back against efforts to make it harder to vote, and we've got to embrace those legislators that are prepared to make it easier to vote.”