Social Studies Key Topics for Student Success
Handout Packet
Steve Schmidt
Appalachian State University
abspd.appstate.edu
schmidtsj@appstate.edu
Lesson 1: Social Studies Extended Response Practice
The Three Parts of the Prompt:
1. Enduring Issue
“Government has no other end, but the preservation of property.”
The first sentence of the later
writing gives historical context
about the issue.
- John Locke, 1690
2. Later Writing
This March 30, 1973 speech from Marlon Brando was delivered at the Academy Awards where he refused an
award to protest the United States’ treatment of Native Americans.
For 200 years we have said to the Indian people who are fighting for their land, their life, their families and
their right to be free: ''Lay down your arms, my friends, and then we will remain together. Only if you lay down
your arms, my friends, can we then talk of peace and come to an agreement which will be good for you.''
When they laid down their arms, we murdered them. We lied to them. We cheated them out of their lands.
We starved them into signing fraudulent agreements that we called treaties which we never kept. We turned
them into beggars on a continent that gave life for as long as life can remember. And by any interpretation of
history, however twisted, we did not do right. We were not lawful nor were we just in what we did . . .
What kind of moral schizophrenia is it that allows us to shout at the top of our national voice for all the world
to hear that we live up to our commitment when every page of history and when all the thirsty, starving,
humiliating days and nights of the last 100 years in the lives of the American Indian contradict that voice?
It would seem that the respect for principle and the love of one's neighbor have become dysfunctional in this
country of ours . . . and that we do not live up to our agreements.
I would hope that those who are listening would not look upon this as a rude intrusion, but as an earnest
effort to focus attention on an issue that might very well determine whether or not this country has the right
to say from this point forward we believe in the inalienable rights of all people to remain free and
independent on lands that have supported their life beyond living memory.
3. Prompt
Prompt
In your response, develop an argument about how the author’s position in his speech
reflects the enduring issue expressed in the excerpt from John Locke. Incorporate relevant and specific
evidence from the excerpt, the speech, and your own knowledge of the enduring issue and the
circumstances surrounding the United States governments’ treatment of Native Americans to support your
analysis.
Type your response in the box. This task may require 25 minutes to complete.
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The enduring issue
An enduring issue is “an important topic or idea that may be subject to ongoing discussion throughout
multiple eras of history. Enduring issues do not have easy solutions. Rather, they are ideas the American
people wrestle with as new situations arise” (GED Testing Service). Many of the enduring issues concern first
amendment rights like the freedom of speech. Others center on issues like the majority rules but must
respect minority rights. The enduring issue is a one sentence quote or excerpt.
The later writing
The later writing is more recent and concerns how we view the enduring issue in a more modern context. It
may be a speech, letter, or editorial. Before the later writing, the prompt writers outline the historical context
that students are asked to discuss in the question.
The question
Always have students read this part first! It will ask students how the two writings tie together, to use
evidence to back up their conclusions, and to include their own knowledge about the issue.
How do the enduring issue and later writing tie together?

It might support or criticize the issue

It may be an example of the issue

It might explain the issue in a more modern context
Questions to ask:

What does the second passage tell me about the enduring issue in the first passage?

What is the author’s purpose in the second passage: explain, give an example, interpret, support, or
criticize the enduring issue?
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Social Studies Extended Response Part 1 - Match each enduring issue to its meaning:
1. “In those wretched countries where a man cannot
call his tongue his own, he can scarce call anything his
own. Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation
must begin by subduing the freeness of speech”
A. Where the people rule, a group with the most
people in it may make life difficult for people not in
their group
2. “The Constitution shall never be construed to prevent
the people of the United States, who are peaceable
citizens from keeping their own arms . . .”
B. No one will take away an American’s right to
vote except when they choose not to vote
3. “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men
are created equal; that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among
these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
C. One of our greatest gifts is to be able to freely
worship God. Other countries think religious
freedom makes for bad government, but in the
United States we have found it makes for the best
government
4. “Among the most inestimable of our blessings is that
… of liberty to worship our Creator in the way we think
most agreeable to His will; a liberty deemed in other
countries incompatible with good government and yet
proved by our experience to be its best support.”
D. While with newspapers there are problems,
there is no freedom without them
5. "The constitutions of most of our states assert that all
power is inherent in the people; that they may exercise
it by themselves.”
E. Do we want to protect our lives and have peace
so much that we want to be slaves instead? I’m
not sure what anyone else will do, but for me, I’ll
take freedom or death!
6. “Our government is a government of laws and not of
men.”
F. Everyone recognizes as truth that all men are
born equal and have God given rights of life,
freedom, and the ability to chase ones dreams
7. “In a democracy, the majority of the citizens is
capable of exercising the most cruel oppressions upon
the minority”
G. In countries with no freedom of speech, people
have almost nothing. Whoever wants to take over
a country should start by stopping free speech.
8. “With newspapers, there is sometimes disorder;
without them, there is always slavery.”
H. Each citizen may have weapons to use for self
defense
9. “Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased
at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty
God! I know not what course others may take, but as for
me, give me liberty, or give me death!”
I. The laws that make up our state governments
make it clear that the people are the source of
political power and may use it by themselves
10. "Nobody will ever deprive the American people of
J. Our government is based on laws, and is not
the right to vote except the American people themselves based on the people who make and enforce the
and the only way they could do this is by not voting”
laws
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Social Studies Extended Response Practice – Part 2
Explain the enduring principle in your own words
“We the people of the United States, in order to form a
more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic
tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote
the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty
to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish
this Constitution for the United States of America.”
“The way to secure liberty is to place it in the people’s
hands, that is, to give them the power at all times to
defend it in the legislature and in the courts”
“That government of the people, by the people, for the
people, shall not perish from the earth.”
“Congress shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or
of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to
assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress
of grievances.”
“Freedom is never given; It is won.”
“In republics, the great danger is, that the majority may
not sufficiently respect the rights of minority.”
“The right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall
not be infringed.”
“If men are to be precluded from offering their
sentiments on a matter, which may involve the most
serious and alarming consequences that can invite the
consideration of mankind, reason is of no use to us, the
freedom of speech may be taken away, and dumb and
silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.”
“The legitimate powers of government extend to such
acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no
injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or
no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.”
“The power of the periodical press is second only to
that of the people.”
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Social Studies Extended Response Practice Part 3: Match the enduring principle with the later speech:
1. ______ The liberties of our country, the freedom of our
civil constitution, are worth defending against all hazards:
And it is our duty to defend them against all attacks.
Explain why it matches:
2. ______ Congress shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech.
Explain why it matches:
3. ______ All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle,
that though the will of the majority is in all cases to
prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that
the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law
must protect, and to violate would be oppression.
Explain why it matches:
4. ______ They define a republic to be a government of
laws, and not of men.
Explain why it matches:
A. Our Constitution places certain rights beyond the reach
of government officials and beyond the reach of what the
majority likes. The freedom of speech is certainly such a
right. Yesterday’s ruling not only affirmed the freedom of
speech but expanded it to include the right not to speak.
The Court has made clear that the government cannot force
people to say things they do not believe.
B. As Americans, we all bear a special responsibility to both
uphold and promote the rule of law. This sacred
responsibility springs from our unique place in history, and
it is the animating force of our heritage – and of our destiny
– as a nation. The founding documents of our democracy –
the Declaration of Independence and the United States
Constitution – established for the first time in the world’s
long history a government not of men, but of laws. To a
world governed by kings and emperors, dukes and czars,
our founding fathers breathed life into an idea which
caused common men to rejoice and despots to tremble.
And it is the force and majesty of this idea that created the
most powerful nation on earth.
C. Go to any American town, to take just an example, and
you’ll see dozens of churches, representing many different
beliefs – in many places synagogues and mosques – and
you’ll see families of every conceivable nationality,
worshipping together . . .Go to any university campus, and
there you’ll find an open, sometimes heated discussion of
the problems in American society and what can be done to
correct them.
D. A great people has been moved to defend a great
nation. Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our
biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of
America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the
steel of American resolve. America was targeted for attack
because we're the brightest beacon for freedom and
opportunity in the world. And no one will keep that light
from shining. Today, our nation saw evil . . and we
responded with the best of America.
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Social Studies Extended Response Practice Part 4
“But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is
lost forever.”
- John Adams, July 17, 1775
In the box below, describe the enduring issue in your own words:
Speech
In this excerpt from his January 20, 1961 inaugural address, President John F. Kennedy describes his vision of
the United States’ place in the world as it looked to defend freedom against communism during the height of
the Cold War.
What information about the time period is given in the speech’s introduction?
“The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human
poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are
still at issue around the globe--the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but
from the hand of God.
We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time
and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans--born in
this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and
unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been
committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any
hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its
hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility--I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us
would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion
which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it. And the glow from that fire can
truly light the world.”
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How does the enduring issue relate to this speech?
In your response, develop an argument about how President Kennedy’s position in his speech reflects the
enduring issue expressed in the quotation from President John Adams. Incorporate the relevant and specific
evidence from the quotation, the speech and your own knowledge of the enduring issue and the
circumstances surrounding the Cold War to support your analysis.
Type your response in the box. This task may require 25 minutes to complete.
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Lesson 2: Historical Scene Investigation (HSI)
Students need to know how to unpack historical primary sources. As we do Historical Scene Investigation on
St. Augustine 1964, we’ll use a graphic organizer to unpack primary sources. Here is an example of how to use
the graphic organizer:
Understanding Primary Sources
What is it? (Letter, diary, speech, drawing,
newspaper article, etc.)
Who made it?
Thomas Jefferson
Announcement
When was it created?
Where was it made?
Philadelphia PA
July 4, 1776
Why was it created?
What does it say or show? (Summarize in a
few sentences in your own words)
To let the world know that the colonies were now an
independent country.
All people have rights such as life, freedom, and the
ability to chase their dreams. King George abused the
American colonists’ rights many times. Now the colonists
are declaring their freedom and are a new country, the
United States of America.
Questions/Comments:
I am thankful for freedom and am always stirred by reading the Declaration!
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Understanding Primary Sources – Exhibit 1
What is it? (Letter, diary, speech, etc.)
Who made it?
When was it created?
Where was it made?
Why was it created?
What does it say or show? (Summarize in a
few sentences in your own words)
Questions/Comments:
Understanding Primary Sources – Exhibit 2
What is it? (Letter, diary, speech, etc.)
Who made it?
When was it created?
Where was it made?
Why was it created?
What does it say or show? (Summarize in a
few sentences in your own words)
Questions/Comments:
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Understanding Primary Sources – Exhibit 3
What is it? (Letter, diary, speech, etc.)
Who made it?
When was it created?
Where was it made?
Why was it created?
What does it say or show? (Summarize in a
few sentences in your own words)
Questions/Comments:
Understanding Primary Sources – Exhibit 4
What is it? (Letter, diary, speech, etc.)
Who made it?
When was it created?
Where was it made?
Why was it created?
What does it say or show? (Summarize in a
few sentences in your own words)
Questions/Comments:
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Understanding Primary Sources – Exhibit 5
What is it? (Letter, diary, speech, etc.)
Who made it?
When was it created?
Where was it made?
Why was it created?
What does it say or show? (Summarize in a
few sentences in your own words)
Questions/Comments:
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HSI Exhibit 1: Audio Recording
Remembering A Civil Rights Swim-In: 'It Was A Milestone'
On June 18, 1964, black and white protesters jumped into the whites-only pool at the Monson Motor Lodge in
St. Augustine, Fla. In an attempt to force them out, the owner of the hotel poured acid into the pool.
Martin Luther King Jr. had planned the sit-in during the St. Augustine Movement, a part of the larger civil
rights movement. The protest — and the owner's acidic response — is largely forgotten today, but it played a
role in the passing of the Civil Rights Act, now celebrating its 50th anniversary.
J.T. Johnson, now 76, and Al Lingo, 78, were two of the protesters in the pool that day. On a visit to StoryCorps
in Atlanta, the pair recalled the hotel owner, James Brock, "losing it."
"Everybody was kind of caught off guard," J.T. says.
"The girls, they were most frightened, and we moved to the center of the pool," Al says.
"I tried to calm the gang down. I knew that there was too much water for that acid to do anything," J.T. says.
"When they drug us out in bathing suits and they carried us out to the jail, they wouldn't feed me because
they said I didn't have on any clothes. I said, 'Well, that's the way you locked me up!'
"But all of the news media were there, because somehow I guess they'd gotten word that something was
going to happen at that pool that day. And I think that's when President [Lyndon B.] Johnson got the
message."
The following day, the Civil Rights Act was approved, after an 83-day filibuster in the U.S. Senate.
"That had not happened before in this country, that some man is pouring acid on people in the swimming
pool," J.T. says. "I'm not so sure the Civil Rights Act would have been passed had [there] not been a St.
Augustine. It was a milestone. We was young, and we thought we'd done something — and we had."
J.T. went back to St. Augustine 40 years later, he tells Al. By then, the Monson Motor Lodge had been replaced
with a Hilton Hotel.
"I sat and talked with the manager. I said to him that, 'You know, I can't stay in this hotel. You don't have any
African-Americans working here,' " J.T. recalls.
"He said, 'Well, I promise you that next time you come down here it'll be different.' He immediately got busy,"
J.T. continues. "But he was one of the few people in St. Augustine, I think, that did some of the things that we
had been talking about."
"So, to go back to St. Augustine, and it's still somewhat the same — now, that does make me feel bad. The
lifting is still kind of heavy, but I'll continue to work as hard as I can, as long as I live," J.T. says. "I won't ever
stop, and I won't ever give up."
Source: NPR
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HSI Exhibit 2 – News Photograph
When blacks and whites tried to integrate the pool at Monson Motor Lodge, infuriated owner Jimmy Brock
dumped muriatic acid, normally used for cleaning tile, into the water to drive them out. (June 18, 1964)
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HSI Exhibit 3 – News Photograph
Martin Luther King Jr. tried to get a meal at the Monson Motor Lodge, was handcuffed and hauled off to jail in
the back of a squad car with a police dog beside him. (June 11, 1964)
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HSI Exhibit 4 – News Photograph
Segregationists try to prevent blacks from swimming at a "White only" beach in St. Augustine during a “wade
in.” (June 25, 1964).
HSI Exhibit 5
Video Google: 1964 beach integration from Dare Not Walk Alone
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HSI Drawing Conclusions
1. What conclusions can your draw about what was going on in St. Augustine during June 1964?
2. Imagine you are a United States Senator who would be voting on the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which was
being discussed during the events in St. Augustine in June, 1964. This bill would outlaw discrimination in
hotels, motels, restaurants and theaters. How would seeing these pictures and videos and hearing these
stories have influenced your vote?
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Lesson 3: Integrating Data Presented in Different Ways
One challenging task for students is how to take information presented in different forms and use it in
answering questions. This skill has been identified as one of the most missed on GED 2014. To help students:
Provide Background Information
The more students know about a time period, the easier it will be to analyze events.
Think Alouds
In a think aloud, an instructor models what is going through their mind as they do a certain task. We can show
students the strategies we use as we tackle understanding different types of data.
Jigsaw Learning
Divide the class into small groups. First create expert groups. These groups focus on just one piece of data
(chart, graph, or map) and study it until they become an expert. Then create a mixed group where experts on
each piece of data share their findings.
Interviews
Have students become experts on one piece of data. Have other students interview them about that piece of
data so everyone will understand it.
Viewing Guide for Watergate Spelled Out (Revised)
What did President Nixon do during Watergate that eventually caused him to have to resign the Presidency?
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TACO Political Cartoon Graphic Organizer
Time (When was this created? What occasion?)
Action (What’s happening?)
Caption (What textual clues are included?)
Objects (What can you identify?)
Summary (What is the message?)
Adapted from Pre-AP: Strategies in Social Studies
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Questions 1 and 2 are based on the chart, graph, and map shown below:
United States – 1860
United States - 1860
Population
Northern
States
22,300,000
Factories
110,000
Shipping
4,600,000
Tonnage
Workers
1,300,000
Cotton
43,000
Production
(in bales)
Wheat and
698,000,000
Corn
Production
* Includes 3,500,000 slaves
Southern
States
9,100,000*
18,000
290,000
110,000
5,344,000
314,000,000
1. Which of the following statements is most true based on the chart, graph, and map?
A. The South was better prepared for war than the North in 1860
B. The North was better prepared for war than the South in 1860
C. Because of its lower population density, the North had more available men to fight
D. Because of its larger manufacturing base, the South could make more weapons
2. Which of the following statements is most true based on the chart, graph, and map?
A. The North had more railroad mileage, shipping tonnage, and higher population density
B. The North had more large farms, wheat and corn production, and higher population density
C. The South had more cotton production, large farms, and higher population density
D. The South had a higher slave population, more cotton production, and more wealth than the North
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Questions 3 and 4 are based on the graph and political cartoon on this page:
3. Which of the following best describes what happened to the public’s
opinion of Richard Nixon during the Watergate Scandal:
A. Nixon’s approval rating decreased in 1973 and sharply increased in 1974
B. As Watergate continued, the percent of people wanting Nixon removed
from office decreased
C. As Watergate continued, Nixon’s approval rating increased
D. As Nixon’s approval rating decreased, the percent of people who wanted
him removed from office increased
4. Nixon’s decision to resign the Presidency was influenced by:
A.
B.
C.
D.
His shrinking public support and increase in those wanted him removed
His ever growing support in public opinion polls, the media, and Congress
The Supreme Court impeaching him
None of these factors
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Questions 5 to 7 are based on the following information:
1824 Presidential Election Results
Note: In order to win election, a
presidential candidate must have a
majority of electoral votes. In the 1824
election, a majority was 131 electoral
votes.
Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution
“The person having the greatest Number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of
the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest
numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose
immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the
representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from
two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice.”
5. Which of the following statements about the Election of 1824 is true?
A. John Quincy Adams received a majority of the popular vote
B. Henry Clay received a majority of the electoral votes
C. William Crawford received most of his support in the Northern states
D. Andrew Jackson received most of his support in the Southern states
6. According to the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution:
A. The Senate chooses the who the President will be in a tie election
B. The House of Representative chooses the election winner if no candidate receives a majority of electors
C. If no candidate receives a majority of electors, each state has 3 votes to choose the President
D. The candidate with the largest number of popular vote wins
7. Based on the data shown above, who should win the 1824 presidential election?
A. Andrew Jackson
B. John Quincy Adams
C. William H. Crawford
D. The House of Representatives will decide the winner
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Lesson 4: Social Studies Thinking Skills
1. Bridge Builders
Why are bridges designed in a certain way? Which type of structure makes them the strongest? Why?
Some bridges have stood the test of time like the Pons Aemilius in Rome. It was built in 179 BC and still stands
today! Other bridges, like the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, opened on July 1, 1940 and collapsed a few months
later on November 7th.
Today, your team will become bridge builders. Your challenge is to use the items provided to your team to
build a bridge that will span twelve inches (the distance between two chairs or two tables). You will have no
more than _________ minutes to work.
Your items may be used in any way. (In other words, you can tear them, roll them, etc.) You can use all the
items or only a few.
The object is to see which team’s structure will hold the most weight. The items your team can use are note
cards, paper clips, popsicle sticks, yarn, masking tape, and sheets of 8.5 x 11 paper.
First, brainstorm some quick sketches of how your bridge might look:
Then, decide on your best idea. We choose our final design for the bridge because:
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Write a paragraph describing how your group built your bridge:
2. Keep it Green
While sustainability is the goal, about 32 million tons of plastic ends up in landfills every year! What can we do
with all the plastic waste that never gets recycled?
Your team will be given a piece of unrecycled plastic and some flip chart paper. First, brainstorm a list of ideas
on what could be done to reuse your piece of plastic. Once your team has decided on the best idea, create a
drawing that you will present to the other groups!
Items Needed:
Piece of plastic
Flip chart paper
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3. Archeologist 2215
Archeologists love to dig in the dirt! They never know what they might uncover as they sift through the earth.
We can learn a great deal from what archeologists find. Artifacts can show us how people may have lived, the
food they may have eaten, their religious customs, or what they used for currency. Since archeologists were
not around at the time, they do have to make some educated guesses, so it is also possible for them to make
mistakes! For proof of this, Google: motel of the mysteries.
Imagine that your team is part of a group of archeologists from the year 2215. At the dig site, you found the
following items that you placed in a bag for later analysis. What do the items tell us about the people who
used them? Use your conclusions to write a report for the National Museum of American History.
Items Needed:
- Plastic bag filled with various items
4. The Pilgrims Are Coming!
Two people can see the same event in very different ways. We have records of many of the early European
settlers about their experiences with Native Americans. We have far fewer accounts from the Native
American perspective.
What about the other side of the story? You are to consider the arrival of the Europeans from the perspective
of Native Americans. Speaking as a Native American, you will write a diary entry that records your thoughts,
insights, and predictions.
5. Ban the Books!
When the wind blows over the ocean, it creates waves. When children have no books at home, they often fall
behind in reading. These two examples show how one thing can lead to another. This is called cause and
effect. In the first situation, the wind (cause) produced the waves (effect). In the second example, the lack of
books was the cause and falling behind in reading was the effect. A cause-and-effect strategy is used to show
why things happen the way they do.
In the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, books are illegal. A person can be arrested for owning a book!
Some people even disappear, never to be seen again – all for their love (and possession) of a book. Just
consider how different the world would be if all reading material (books, magazines, phone texts, song lyrics,
instructions) were banned. Describe three effects of the book ban focusing on why the effect would occur.
Adapted from: Hagler (2012) Take 5 for language arts: 180 bell-ringers that build critical-thinking skills
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Lesson 5: Voter ID – The Great Debate
Reasons Requiring a Picture Voter ID is a Good Idea:
Reasons Requiring a Picture Voter ID is a Bad Idea:
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Despite Voter ID Law, Minority Turnout Up in Georgia
Atlanta Journal Constitution
September 3, 2012
When Georgia became one of the first states in the nation to demand a photo ID at the ballot box, both sides
served up dire predictions. Opponents labeled it a Jim Crow-era tactic that would suppress the minority vote.
Supporters insisted it was needed to combat fraud that imperiled the integrity of the elections process.
But both claims were overblown, according to a review of by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution of statewide
voting patterns in the five years since the law took effect.
Turnout among black and Hispanic voters increased from 2006 to 2010, dramatically outpacing population
growth for those groups over the same period. On the other hand, Georgia’s top elections official could not
point to a single case of ballot fraud the voter ID law had prevented.
“I think the rhetoric on both sides has been overstated,” said Edward Foley, executive director of an election
law center at The Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law.
“It hasn’t had the voter-suppressing effect that some people feared,” Foley said. Conversely, he said, rhetoric
about voter fraud has largely proven to be a “scare tactic” with little basis in fact.
Still, the law has had real and measurable effect for some voters: Since November 2008, the ballots of 1,586
Georgians didn’t count because of the law. (They arrived at the polls without a photo ID, cast provisional
ballots, and did not return later with the required ID.) Overall, 13.6 million votes were cast in the state during
the same period.
Polarizing National Issue
Few rights are held as sacred in the United States as the right to vote. And in this sharply polarized election
season, voter ID laws have taken on an unusually high national profile.
Democratic Vice President Joe Biden railed against voter suppression efforts at an appearance before a
receptive audience at the NAACP’s annual convention in July. Labeling voter fraud “poison,” the GOP made
support of voter ID laws a plank in its party platform, which convention delegates adopted in Tampa this
week.
Both sides are appealing to their base. Democrats, by and large, oppose the laws, saying they target reliably
liberal constituencies: the poor and minorities, who are less likely to have a drivers license or other photo ID.
Republicans maintain that without the laws, people not registered, or even legally eligible, cast votes by
posing as someone who is registered.
Seven states adopted or strengthened voter ID laws in 2011. The National Conference of State Legislatures
says that 33 states now have voter ID laws, although some are far more strict than others.
Georgia, considered one of the toughest, requires that anyone voting in person have a state-issued photo ID
for their ballot to count. Photo identification is not required to cast an absentee ballot in Georgia.
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Legal battles have erupted over many of the laws. In recent months, voter ID laws in the swing states of
Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have been winding through the courts. The U.S. Department of Justice signed off
on a law in the battleground state of Virginia, that state’s governor said, but rejected voter ID laws in South
Carolina and Texas. On Thursday a federal court also ruled against Texas’ law, saying it could suppress turnout
among Hispanic voters.
Turnout
Georgia first adopted a voter ID law in 2005 and won court approval to implement it in 2007. The law has now
been in place for two major statewide general elections: 2008, when the presidential race was on the ballot,
and 2010, when voters selected a new governor. Prior to the new law, voters had been able to present one of
17 forms of identification, including a utility bill.
Elections data reviewed by the AJC show that participation among black voters rose by 44 percent from 2006
— before the law was implemented — to 2010. For Hispanics, the increase for the same period was 67
percent. Turnout among whites rose 12 percent.
It was expected that African American turnout would spike in 2008, when Barack Obama became the first
person of color to win the presidency. And it did rise to historic highs in Georgia.
Black participation fell in 2010, as it did for all demographic groups. Still, a far greater share of black voters
turned out in 2010 than in 2006, showing that Obama was not the only factor driving turnout.
“If you look at the numbers, they clearly show that critics of this law were wrong,” Hans von Spakovsky, a
former legal counsel to the Justice Department’s civil rights division who now works for the conservative
Heritage Foundation. “Their argument has always been it would depress turnout, but it didn’t happen — quite
the opposite.”
Still, those who oppose the law caution against reading too much into the turnout figures. They argue that the
numbers fail to capture Georgians who, lacking a photo ID, simply didn’t bother showing up to vote at all.
Emmet Bondurant, the Atlanta lawyer who filed the federal lawsuit against the Georgia law, noted that that
records obtained as part of their lawsuit showed that more than 198,000 registered Georgia voters lacked
drivers licenses and another 91,000 had had their licenses suspended or revoked.
As a way to win federal court approval for the law, Georgia offers free photo IDs to anyone who needs them.
Records obtained through the Secretary of State’s office show that 26,506 Georgians have obtained free
photo IDs since the law took effect.
The others, who can no longer vote, “didn’t just disappear,” Bondurant said. He calls them victims of voter
suppression.
Not All Votes Count
Under Georgia’s law, an in-person voter who arrives at the polls without a photo ID may cast a provisional
ballot. The provisional ballot is counted only if the person returns with proper identification by the Friday
following the election.
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Records show that since 2008, 2,244 provisional ballots were cast by voters lacking photo ID. Of those, 658
returned with an ID and 1,586 did not — meaning their votes did not count.
That disturbs Laughlin McDonald, director of the Voting Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union,
one of the original plaintiffs who challenged the law.
“If one person is deprived of their right to see their vote count, that’s a violation of the Constitution,”
McDonald said.
Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp said law has been a success, although he could not identify specific
instances of fraud it had prevented.
“There is no doubt in my mind that our voting process is more secure because of photo ID,” he told The AJC in
an interview. “The people of Georgia are plenty capable of obtaining a (photo) ID. I think most of them
already have one, and I don’t think its a real big burden to get one.”
Some academics caution against drawing conclusions about the impact of voter ID from so little data.
Justin Levitt, an election law expert at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, called 2008 a “tidal wave” election for
minority voters because of Obama. It will take time, he said, before the effect of voter ID can be parsed out
from other factors that drive turnout.
“We need a big enough data set that it will squeeze out that extra noise,” Levitt said. “And that is going to
take some time.”
Source: Atlanta Journal Constitution
Getting a Free Voter ID
“I just moved to Georgia so I could get a job. There’s no jobs to speak of where I’m from. I was lucky enough
to find two part time jobs to support myself and my kids here in Atlanta.
My grandma fought for voting rights back during the 1960s, so there is no way I’m not voting. I found out that
I needed an official picture ID in order to vote here in Georgia. I don’t drive, and my out of state license won’t
cut it. I also don’t have any of the official picture IDs that the state allows for voting, so I had to go to the
Fulton County Government Center to get one. The only day I’m not working is Sunday, and the Government
Center’s not open then. I’m going to have to take off from work to get this picture ID so I can vote.
I begged my boss to have a few hours off so I could go get the voter ID. Taking off work is a big deal for me.
Since I work part time, if I don’t work, I don’t get paid. Since I’m new on the job, the boss looked at me kind of
funny when I asked for some time off. I explained to her why I needed the time off and she understood. I
hope she did anyway. I pray this won’t start anything bad between me and her. We’ll have to make some
tough choices at the end of the week since my check will be lighter than usual.
I leave work at 2:30 and hop on MARTA. I sure hope this is the right bus. I have two take two different busses
to get across town to the Center. MARTA charges $2.50 for a one way ride. Taking MARTA there and back to
the Government Center’s going to cost me more money I don’t really have.
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I make it to the government center at 4:00, in just enough time for me to get my ID. The lady on the phone
said I would need my birth certificate and proof of residency like an electric bill. I also needed to fill out some
forms. Just before 5 PM, I finished everything. I was lucky. Some man in line ahead of me didn’t bring all the
stuff he needed, and he was turned away. He was so mad! I raced to my stop and just caught the bus I
needed to get home.
So, this free ID ain’t so free after all. Let’s see what it cost me: About $43 dollars in lost work hours and $5 for
the bus fare. All told, it cost me almost 50 bucks to get my “free” ID. I’m able to vote now. Is it worth it?”
Voting in a State Where No Photo ID Is Required.
It is a crisp, cool morning in November. I head out down the street to vote at the volunteer fire department
just down the street. When I arrive, I am greeted by the poll workers and asked for my birthdate. After I give
it, I am asked to verify my address. I do this and am given a ballot and head off to the cubicles to mark it and
place it in the counting machine.
Since it is early morning and no one else is voting, I ask the poll workers what they think about states requiring
voter ID to prevent voter fraud. Both workers are in favor of having a picture ID in order to vote. One says, “It
would be pretty easy to vote illegally as someone else. You could look in the newspaper and see who has died
to get their address and birthdate.” The other says, “I agree. With all the information available on the
Internet, you could definitely find someone else’s age and address to use to vote. If the poll workers don’t
know you, you’re home free. We really need voter ID in our state so fraud like this can be stopped.”
After talking with both poll workers, I reflect on my view. Trying to impersonate someone in my small
community would be hard. Even though I am new in the community, one of the poll workers knows me.
Probably between both of the workers, they know a majority of people in our area. But in a major city, it
would be much easier to impersonate someone and vote more than once or vote as someone else. Not
having a picture ID would also make it possible for dead people to vote or for someone to hire a group of
people to vote.
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The Great Debate Guide
Pro Speaker 1 (Favors states requiring voter ID) They can speak for up to 3 minutes
Pro Speaker 2 (Favors states requiring voter ID) They can speak for up to 3 minutes
Questions by Con Speakers (They ask two questions) The question/answer can take up to 3 minutes
Con Speaker 1 (Against states requiring voter ID) They can speak for up to 3 minutes
Con Speaker 2 (Against states requiring voter ID) They can speak for up to 3 minutes
Questions by Pro Speakers (They ask two questions) The question/answer can take up to 3 minutes
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