The Revealed “I”A Conference on Privacy and

IdentityOctober 25-27, 2007

Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa

Lillie ConeyAssociate Director

EPIC

Lillie Coney is Associate Director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center. EPIC is a public interest research center established in 1994 to focus public attention on emerging civil liberties issues and to protect privacy, the First Amendment, and constitutional values.

http://www.epic.org/

Race & Ethnicity Implications on the

Right to Vote• Marginalized persons long for one

kind of privacy (freedom from unwanted surveillance) while suffering under another kind (a conspiracy of neglect). 

How the Right to Vote and Privacy Connect

• Voting Rights are limited by– Voter registration requirements– Voter registration list management

– Narrow voter Identification requirements

– Voter proof of citizenship requirements

Voting Rights and Power

• Access to the ballot box empowers communities who would not other wise have a voice in the decision making process.

• Allow for the representative purpose of democracy to function.

US History of Struggling for Enfranchisement

• In 1965 only 200 elected positions were held by African Americans that number by 2000 increased to 9,040

• In the US only 30% of African American Voters Describe themselves as Republicans while 60% affiliate themselves with the Democrats.

• An aggressive Latino voter participation project in Nevada for the 1998 Senate election nearly doubled participation from the 1996 election.

• In 2004 an very close race for Governor for the state of Washington was won by a 128 vote margin. Most Asian voters supported the Democrat and it is suggested that if their margin of participation were higher no recount would have occurred.

Privacy and Voting in Public Elections

• The Suspect Voter– Often are certain demographic groups•In the US African Americans•Latino/Mexican Americans•Asian Americans•Native Americans•Homeless

Charges of Voter Fraud

• Voter Identity Theft• Illegal Voting

– Non-citizen– Felon voting– Multiple voting

What’s the Problem

• Everyone has at least one government issued voter ID

• Government ID is needed by those who travel, enter government buildings, write checks

• Free identification can be given to the few who do not have these documents

US History of Voting Rights

• 15th Amendment prohibited the denial of voting rights based on race.

• 19th Amendment prohibits the denial of the right to vote based on gender.

• 24th Amendment prohibits the poll tax for federal elections.

• 26th Amendment prohibits the denial of voting rights of those 18 and older base on age.31

Voting Rights Laws

• Voting Rights Act of 1965, several times including mostly recently renewed in 2006

• The National Voter Registration Act

• The Help America Vote Act (old habits are hard to break)

Bad Behavior 2000-2007

• Felon voter roll list errors• Disinformation and disinformation efforts

• Deceptive campaign practices• Firing of 8 US Attorneys for among other things, not more aggressively pursuing voter fraud cases

Tools for Limiting Access to Voting

• Will allow only state issued photo identification document

• Require proof of citizenship• Felon voter rolls purge list• Caging tactics

Victims of Hurricane Katrina and Voting

• Department of Homeland Security

• United States Postal Service• The Courts• Election Administrators

Importance of Access to the Ballot

• A voice for disabled, minority, poor, elderly, homeless, and others

• Without a voice elected representation is compromised

• Marginalizing emerging political identity of minority groups is a real consequence of tactics to disenfranchisement