New Study Reveals Black Youth Are Significantly Discriminated Against at Voting Booth

[Stephan Bobb]

New Study Reveals Black Youth Are Significantly Discriminated Against at Voting Booth

March 13, 2013 | Filed under: News | Posted by: Maria Lloyd

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For years, there has been an assumption made that African-Americans are largely discriminated against at the voting booth, well now that assumption has been turned into a fact. According to a new study conducted by Dr. Cathy Cohen of Univ. of Chicago and Jon Rogowski of Washington Univ.,  voter identification laws are applied unevenly across racial groups and have significant discriminatory effects on Black and Latino youth under age 30.

“The Voting Rights Act plays an important role in protecting the ability of people of color to participate in elections as full and equal citizens,” said Prof. Rogowski.  “Our study shows that without a doubt youth of color are discriminated against at the voting booth. It doesn’t matter whether it results from conscious or unconscious bias, the result is that people of color are being disenfranchised and our nation has an obligation to put an end to it.” Overall, 17.3 percent of Black youth and 8.1 percent of Latino youth reported that the lack of required identification prevented them from voting, compared to just 4.7 percent of white youth, according to a study released today by the Black Youth Project.

“The 2012 election was marked by a surprisingly high turnout from youths of color, but this shouldn’t turn attention away from the disproportionate and discriminatory impact of state voter identification requirements,” Dr. Cohen said. “There are many reasons why people may choose not to vote, but enacting new laws that disproportionately affect particular populations should not be among them.” The numbers are staggering. The specific data, as reported by International Business Times shows:

• Nearly three-quarters (72.3 percent) of young Black voters were asked for some form of identification, compared with 50.8 percent of young white voters and 60.8 percent of young Latino voters.
• Young Black (64.5 percent) and Latino (57.0 percent) voters were considerably more likely to be asked to show photo identification to vote compared to young white voters (42.2 percent).
• Nearly two-thirds (65.5 percent) of Black youth were asked to show identification in states without ID requirements, compared with 55.3 percent of Latino youth and 42.8 percent of white youth.
• In states with voter identification laws, higher percentages of Black youth (94.3 percent) were asked for ID compared with Latino (81.8 percent) and white (84.3 percent) youth.

Dr. Cohen maintained that the study established clear evidence that voter identification laws are applied disproportionately across racial groups. ”This is true for identification in general as well as photo ID in particular and also applies whether or not a state has identification requirements,” she said.  “The uneven application of these laws suggests that polling place workers exercise a high level of discretion in requesting ID from potential voters.  Unless all polling places – and all poll workers – apply voting laws in a consistent manner, the very existence of identification laws makes young people of color more likely than white youth to be asked to prove their identity.”