Cohen Responds to Federal Report Showing Tennessee Voter ID Law Suppresses African American Votes

[MEMPHIS, TN] – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today released the following statement in response to a new U.S. Government Accountability Office report finding that Tennessee’s restrictive voter ID law led to reductions in voter turnout that were larger “among African-American registrants than among White, Asian-American, and Hispanic registrants.” The report further found that in-person voter fraud—which is often cited by supporters as the reason why restrictive voter ID laws are needed in the first place—is virtually non-existent.

“I have said from the beginning that the goal of restrictive state voter ID policies like Tennessee’s isn’t to prevent fraud, it’s to make it harder for African Americans to exercise the fundamental right to vote that Americans of all stripes hold sacred,” said Congressman Cohen. “And today’s authoritative report from the federal government shows exactly that: our state’s law disenfranchises African Americans but the fraud it is supposed to prevent doesn’t even exist. Despite the claims of its supporters, the Tennessee Voter ID law is a travesty of justice masquerading as a cure to a disease that we all know is imaginary.”

To help alleviate the harmful and disenfranchising effects of unfair and burdensome voter ID laws like Tennessee’s, Congressman Cohen has introduced his Voter ID Accessibility Act. The bill would amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, commonly referred to as the “Motor Voter Law,” to expand access to photo identification in states that require it for voting. Congressman Cohen’s legislation would ensure that state and federal offices that provide public assistance—which already offer visitors the opportunity to register to vote—also notify individuals of their state’s voter ID mandate and offer them the opportunity to obtain suitable identification free of charge.