Impartial presidential prospect Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has been a longtime opponent of demanding voters to exhibit proof of identification to solid a ballot, a number of his resurfaced writings and interviews display.
The product reviewed by Fox News Digital was released all over 2008 in the run-up to that year’s presidential election, and incorporated Kennedy referencing voter ID regulations as “racially rancid,” and declaring voter fraud was “non-existent.”
A single of his past writings – a comic e book co-authored with investigative journalist Greg Palast and sponsored by many liberal and remaining-wing businesses – exclusively claimed voter ID requirements ended up discriminatory versus Black men and women.
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Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. speaks in the course of a campaign function at Royal Oak Tunes Theater in Royal Oak, Michigan, on Sunday, April 21, 2024. (Emily Elconin/Bloomberg through Getty Illustrations or photos)
“A single out of each individual 10 People in america never have a federal government-issued ID simply because they never journey overseas, so they never have passports, and they really do not generate a vehicle[,] so they really do not have motorists[‘] licenses. The variety rises to 1 in five when you’re working with the African American community. And, in fact, for people folks to get a government-issued ID – it is an impediment,” Kennedy wrote on website page 16 of the comic.
On the exact same website page, Kennedy explained voter ID legislation as “racially rancid,” citing countless numbers of voters rejected at the polls for acquiring an expired license – or no license at all – throughout an unnamed past election being “disproportionately” Black.
Kennedy wrote on another page that an Idaho need for newly registered voters in the state to clearly show ID to have a mail-in ballot counted was “a new voter Block-the-Vote trick.” He later described voter ID rules as “the most recent rip-off to steal your vote,” and precisely identified as those turned away from the polls for not staying able to establish their id as “stolen votes.”
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“Voter fraud is non-existent… everyone who has ever analyzed this – non-partisan, bi-partisan groups – [has] said that it is merely not a problem in this region,” Kennedy also wrote in the comedian.
Kennedy also claimed voter fraud “would not exist” throughout a 2008 HuffPost interview whilst evaluating voter ID necessities to Jim Crow guidelines and accusing Republicans of employing worry surrounding voter fraud as an excuse to make it tougher for minorities to vote.
“Republicans have seized on this in get to erect all types of hurdles and impediments that fundamentally mimic the old poll taxes that ended up applied in the southern states during the Jim Crow interval, to continue to keep Black individuals from voting. Nowadays, they’re directed toward suppressing the votes, not only Blacks, but Hispanics and American Indians, of youthful folks of senior citizens,” Kennedy stated.
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Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and his functioning mate, Nicole Shanahan, in the course of a marketing campaign occasion in Oakland, California, on March 26, 2024. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg by using Getty Photographs)
That very same 12 months, Kennedy admitted in a piece posted by liberal outlet Rolling Stone that “the necessity to show a authorities-issued ID will not feel unreasonable,” but claimed once again that standard Democrat voters, which, at the time, he described as younger voters, minorities and seniors, “normally have no driver’s licenses or point out ID cards.”
He recurring very similar statements during an job interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow just days ahead of the 2008 presidential election. “Just one in 5 Black voters does not have a driver’s license. That signifies if you need a driver’s license, you’re obtaining rid of 20% of the Black voters in this nation,” he mentioned.
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Fox Information Digital has achieved out to Kennedy’s campaign for remark.
Irrespective of his earlier statements about them, voter ID laws remain well known across the nation. Numerous polls taken in modern many years have proven more than a few-quarters of Individuals assistance requiring evidence of identification to forged a ballot.
Kennedy is operating together with wealthy entrepreneur and philanthropist Nicole Shanahan, a previous Democrat who he announced would sign up for his ticket in the course of a rally in Oakland, California, last month.
