I’m back! I know you missed me. Let’s ease into another year of blogging with some good ol’ voter disenfranchisement, courtesy of The Societal Pages:

Voter ID laws disproportionately affect Black Americans, Latino/a voters, U.S. citizens who were born in other countries, elderly people, people with disabilities, transgendered people, and students — all of whom are less likely to have the required ID for different reasons. A 2006 Brennan Center study finds that 25% of Black , 16% percent of Latino/s, and 18% percent of elderly Americans lack the necessary ID. Some on the left have accurately likened these new laws to Jim Crow Era poll taxes because the expense involved in obtaining an ID place a disproportionate burden on many groups that have been historically disenfranchised.

What do all of these groups have in common? With the exception of elderly Americans who have shifted Republican in recent years (although they still comprise the most active voting group for Democrats), the Americans who will be disproportionately affected by voter ID laws all vote overwhelmingly Democratic.

As everyone’s favourite fictional detective would say, very curious indeed.

The full article goes on to examine the corporate backing–the Koch brothers, who else–that has made this sort of legislating possible.

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A pro pos of nothing, I was told today that I “look like [I] would be a conservative, because, well, [I] like money, don’t [I]?”

I don’t even.