Voter ID laws - Why Do Many Minorities Lack ID?

From the Article:

The Justice Department notified the commonwealth of Virginia on Monday night that it would not object to its new voter ID law. The Virginia requirement is just the latest such law at the center of a heated debate leading up to the 2012 election, with Republicans generally supporting the laws as a means to prevent voter fraud, while Democrats allege that the laws will disenfranchise minorities, who less often have valid IDs. Why do minorities have fewer IDs?

Because a lot of minorities don’t have much use for them. The most common voter ID is a driver’s license, and minorities are less likely to drive. A 2007 study found that in California, New Mexico, and Washington, whites were more likely to have driver’s licenses than nonwhites. In Orange County, Calif., about 92 percent of white voters had driver’s licenses, compared with only 84 percent of Latino voters and 81 percent of “other” voters. A 2005 study of Wisconsin similarly found that while about 80 percent of white residents had licenses, only about half of African-American and Hispanic residents had licenses.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2012/08/voter_id_laws_why_do_minorities_lack_id_to_show_at_the_polls_.html

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