With elections coming up just around the corner, many people—both young and old—are  in a hot debate over whether or not it should be required by law to show photo identification while registering to vote and when entering polls. Both sides of the debate show compelling arguments, with both liberals and conservatives very passionate about the issue. But my understanding of the situation is this:

I do not believe that the law should require a photo ID to vote. It is my belief that this rule is redundant was put in place to discourage citizens from voting. This law blocks close to 11 percent of validated, qualified American citizens from voting. While it may seem like most Americans have some form of official identification or another, the fact is that many citizens—for one reason or another—simply do not have official photo identification. Obtaining photo identification is much more costly than lawmakers profess. One ID can cost up to $50, while passports and other forms can cost up to $180. This makes it difficult for some citizens to access a photo ID, particularly seniors, minorities, people with disabilities, students and low-income voters.

At this point, this is not only an issue of wealth, but it becomes an issue of suppression and oppression. When African Americans first became able to vote, processes were put in place to discourage them from voting. These processes included ridiculous measures such as needing to guess how many marbles were in a jar and, if guessed incorrectly, African Americans weren’t allowed to vote. These kinds of tests were nearly impossible to accomplish, and were clearly put in place to suppress minorities from voting. It is the sad truth that voter suppression still goes on today. While it may seem less drastic than it was 150 years ago, it is still wrong.

Not only is it morally wrong (which should be enough to convince you of the atrocity of this law,) it is also unconstitutional. It is every American citizen’s constitutional right to vote. If they have registered and proven their citizenship previously, they should not be required to go out of their way to provide a second proof of identification is absurd. Many Americans do not have the means to provide this secondary identification, and denying them their right to vote goes against what our forefathers fought and died for. As Americans we should be standing up for those who wish to vote as much as our ancestors stood up for themselves when they wanted to vote.

It boils down to this: Do we still want to live in that world where minorities and people with lesser incomes are not able to express their opinions and act on their basic American rights? Or do we want to move forward from those years of suppression and create a world that thrives on equality and inclusion? I know what side of history I want to stand on. What side will you be on?