By now I’m sure many of you have heard about the new voter identification laws that some states are beginning to enforce. And good for you if you discovered this through academic sources, but I am far from ashamed to say that I learned of these absurd regulations by none other than Sarah Silverman.

If you are yet to see this hilariously well-crafted PSA, please watch the video above. Sarah Silverman once again manages to use her comedic brilliance to actually reach commonly uninformed demographics on a significant issue. Many people who have heard of the new laws don’t immediately connect the clear intention of the restrictions – to exclude the millions of Americans who don’t have a state issued ID. Believe it or not, most of these citizens are not wealthy white people. As Sarah gracefully points out, the majority of voters that will be affected by the laws are Obama supporters.

Those that are backing the policy claim that they will ensure the integrity of the election by avoiding voter fraud. Here’s the problem: of all the things these targeted demographics (young, old, black, poor) could exploit, I’m guessing voting should not be the number one concern. While they’re at it, the government might as well make people show state issued ID’s to buy lottery tickets, or football tickets, or better yet to cash in all their tickets for a prize at Chuck E. Cheese’s.

These laws are alarming and could easily lead to a slippery slope towards complete government control. U.S. history is already contaminated with election scandal and government corruption; if we start to ignore the blatant breach of our freedom, it won’t stop. Our bipartisan system undoubtedly has major flaws and millions of Americans have been asking for years if their vote even matters. Now, when voter laws are no longer are given a bipartisan effort, the answer is becoming clearer.

While the U.S. Government is busy stopping voter fraud, they are neglecting other pressing issues in our country like self-scanner fraud at the grocery store. That’s right, you cold hearted criminals, once the government gets wind of this, you will no longer be able to get away with typing in Gala apples when you’re really getting the pricier Honeycrisp! My point being, what is this crazy phenomenon we are so fearful of? When asked for justification, supporters of these laws have struggled to provide concrete examples of this so-called endemic of ‘voter fraud.’ Today’s America has virtually no examples of documented voter fraud that hasn’t been quickly identified and accounted for. Our government is “protecting” Americans from an issue that literally doesn’t exist.

The voter restriction laws are systematically neglecting large demographics in the upcoming election, and cannot be ignored.  Though it helps, Sarah Silverman doesn’t need her humor to make the PSA funny; the policy itself is a laughing matter.

By: Lauren Opatowski

(Video courtesy of Sarah Silverman)

1 Comment

• Lauren says:

  October 2, 2012 at 10:27 pm

  It’s just like so American…NO PHOTO NO VOTO!

  Reply