MERI Blog
Voter ID
On Friday, on behalf of Marriage Equality Rhode Island, I submitted comments about the proposed Voter ID Rules and Regulations to the Rhode Island Secretary of State (RISOS). Because of the unique challenges faced by our community, the Voter ID law has the potential to disenfranchise a large number of LGBTQI Rhode Islanders. Our friends from Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless did a great job testifying about all of the problems homeless people have trying to get an ID, from not being able to obtain/provide supporting documentation due to the cost of that paperwork or from the very real logistical concerns related to life on the street. We should not forget that the LGBTQI community makes up a significant portion of those who are homeless, somewhere between 20-40% according to the Center for American Progress.
Our testimony focused on issues specific to our transgender and gender non-conforming community because we know that requiring photo ID can cause bureaucratic headaches and safety concerns for members of our community. We are continuing to work with the RISOS to make sure we are not disenfranchised in this process. The RISOS plans on posting the final rules by the end of today, Monday, December 12, 2011 because they have to be ready to issue IDs by the first day of business in 2012 (January 3, 2012). We’ll keep you posted on the finals rules and our next steps.
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