Date: Wed, 20  Feb  2002 13:56:14 -0500
From: <belmonte@MIT.EDU>
To: <belmonte@mit.edu>
Subject: Oppose Inequitable Voting Requirements!

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Message sent to the following recipients:
Sen. Kennedy
Sen. Kerry
Rep. Capuano
Message text follows:

Matthew Belmonte
[address]


February 20, 2002

[recipient address was inserted here]


 [recipient name was inserted here],

As your constituent, I urge you to oppose S. 565, ?The Equal Protection of 
Voting Act,? so long as it includes photo identification requirements for 
first time voters. If this bill is allowed to become law, voters will be 
treated differently depending on when they registered and how they 
registered.  There is no justifiable reason to require identification from 
one person and not another.  History shows that such requirements are not 
uniformly applied and have in fact been used as a method to turn away 
voters based on their ethnicity.

Requirements for photographic identification are discriminatory. A 
disproportionate number of racial and ethnic minority voters, as well as 
voters with disabilities, have neither the required identification nor the 
money to get it.  Placing this condition on their right to vote would shut 
them out of the political process, much in the way that literacy tests and 
poll taxes did in the past.  

Finally, photo identification requirements would have a chilling effect on 
voter participation, especially among young people.  At least 1.5 million 
undergraduates are currently attending school out of state.  Most of these 
students do not have photo identification that displays a local address. 
Voter participation among young people has significantly declined over the 
years. Imposing addition barriers could decrease participation even 
further. The right to vote is fundamental and the exercise of this right 
must not be contingent on a person's ability to produce identification.  

Again, I urge you to oppose S. 565, `The Equal Protection of Voting Act,' 
so long as it includes photo identification requirements for first time 
voters.

Sincerely,


Matthew Belmonte