Through the Looking Glass: A Fact-free Non-story Goes Viral

on in Civic Engagement

— AAAJ_Chicago (@AAAJ_Chicago) October 28, 2014

Earlier this week, NCLR retweeted a link to a Washington Post blog post that informs voters if and where they need to bring identification in order to vote. In response, one media outlet has claimed that this retweet—and the Washington Post piece itself—constitutes “encouraging” voter fraud. By this expansive definition, any media outlet that has reported on the voter ID issue and any official, organization, or community leader who has raised the issue has also encouraged voter fraud. Since this fact-free nonstory came out, other media outlets such as Fox & Friends have “reported” on this “outrage.” Needless to say, we have yet to be contacted by any of these purported journalists to verify or discuss what was alleged in the original piece.

Watch the short Fox & Friends clip below, courtesy of Media Matters for America

To be crystal clear, even the most cursory review of NCLR’s work in the civic engagement arena would reveal that we encourage only those eligible to naturalize, register, and vote. To be fair, though, we do believe—along with a slew of civic and civil rights organizations, voting experts, and virtually every court in the nation—that voter ID laws unfairly and unnecessarily target communities of color, the elderly, and young people, and could preclude them from rightfully participating in the political process.

NCLR is a nonpartisan organization that works to promote the civic and political participation of the Hispanic community.  Informing eligible Latino voters about whether their state has a voter ID requirement is a way to educate them about what they need to do to vote on Election Day—no different than sharing information about their polling locations. To suggest that sharing basic information about voting requirements is an attempt at fraud is not only woefully incorrect, it is irresponsible and deliberately deceptive.

Like the vast majority of Americans, we believe in fair elections, which is why we will continue to work hard to ensure that every eligible Latino voter makes it to the voting booth this November.

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