Ari Berman is a writer for The Nation magazine as well as a journalism fellow at The Nation Institute. According to Ari Berman’s official website, he has a degree in journalism and political science from Northwestern University. Ari Berman’s concentration is American politics as well as foreign policy. His first book is titled Herding Donkeys: The Fight to Rebuild the Democratic Party and Reshape American Politics, published in 2010. In the book, Give Us The Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights In America by Ari Berman, Berman discusses the evolution of American Democracy under the Voting Rights Act. Berman uses intensive research and conducts interviews in order to bring validity to his argument. Berman also goes into depth on how
…show more content…
In 2000, Florida created a voting purge list. On this list, fifty eight thousand convicted felons names were barred from voting in the election. Florida resident and former navy veteran Willie Steen had been wrongfully mistaken for a convict with a similar name and thus, rejected from the polls. Steen wasn’t the only one who was wrongfully put on this list, many others would be banned from the voting polls as well. This list contained a large amount of errors. “Blacks made up only fifteen percent of registered voters in the state, but forty four percent of those on the purge list, which turned out to be littered with errors.” (327). Reading this, it could seem as this was just an innocent error, however, it may not have been. Wallace McDonald was also on this list. In the 1950’s, he was charged for falling asleep waiting for public bus. For his punishment, he was to work on a municipal garbage truck. However, he walked off the job and was charged thirty dollars. When he found his name of the list, he hired a lawyer to prove he was not a felon. Even when proved that McDonald was not a felon, he could not get reinstated onto the voter rolls. Floredia Walker, whom was required to maintain current background checks, was also wrongfully on the list. What was interesting was that these people had very little in common except: …show more content…
Berman takes time to dissect the events that follow the 2008 election. Berman states that after former president Obama’s success, “three hundred and ninety five new voting restrictions were introduced in forty nine states” (18). These laws made efforts to vote increasingly difficult. Some of these laws include: government issued voter identification cards, purging voter rolls, and curtailing early voting. Berman argues that these aspects were targeting young people, African Americans, and women. While I agree that purging voting rolls could be used to target minorities, I do not believe that all these laws were attempting to keep certain people out of the polls. Voters should be required to have government issued identification cards upon voting. This is a way to make sure the person voting is who they say they are as well as confirm their citizenship. All law abiding citizens are provided an opportunity to obtain a photo identification card and thus, being able to vote. I believe Berman is qualified with his statements, however, it is a reach to say that all these laws were attacks on a certain group of the
In 2000, Florida created a voting purge list. On this list, fifty eight thousand convicted felons names were barred from voting in the election. Florida resident and former navy veteran Willie Steen had been wrongfully mistaken for a convict with a similar name and thus, rejected from the polls. Steen wasn’t the only one who was wrongfully put on this list, many others would be banned from the voting polls as well. This list contained a large amount of errors. “Blacks made up only fifteen percent of registered voters in the state, but forty four percent of those on the purge list, which turned out to be littered with errors.” (327). Reading this, it could seem as this was just an innocent error, however, it may not have been. Wallace McDonald was also on this list. In the 1950’s, he was charged for falling asleep waiting for public bus. For his punishment, he was to work on a municipal garbage truck. However, he walked off the job and was charged thirty dollars. When he found his name of the list, he hired a lawyer to prove he was not a felon. Even when proved that McDonald was not a felon, he could not get reinstated onto the voter rolls. Floredia Walker, whom was required to maintain current background checks, was also wrongfully on the list. What was interesting was that these people had very little in common except: …show more content…
Berman takes time to dissect the events that follow the 2008 election. Berman states that after former president Obama’s success, “three hundred and ninety five new voting restrictions were introduced in forty nine states” (18). These laws made efforts to vote increasingly difficult. Some of these laws include: government issued voter identification cards, purging voter rolls, and curtailing early voting. Berman argues that these aspects were targeting young people, African Americans, and women. While I agree that purging voting rolls could be used to target minorities, I do not believe that all these laws were attempting to keep certain people out of the polls. Voters should be required to have government issued identification cards upon voting. This is a way to make sure the person voting is who they say they are as well as confirm their citizenship. All law abiding citizens are provided an opportunity to obtain a photo identification card and thus, being able to vote. I believe Berman is qualified with his statements, however, it is a reach to say that all these laws were attacks on a certain group of the