Democrats have railed against voter ID laws, and their platform “opposes laws that place unnecessary restrictions” on those seeking to vote, but Democratic National Convention officials will only issue credentials to those who present state-issued IDs.

The DNC’s website says that “all pickup persons must have a state-issued ID that matches the name submitted” to receive credentials. Media members attending the DNC have to present photo IDs at multiple checkpoints.

But even as Democrats require IDs to enter their convention and The Voter Integrity Project discovered there were 30,000 dead North Carolinians still on the state’s voter rolls, Democrats continue to fiercely oppose voter ID laws.

Attorney General Eric Holder, whose Justice Department did not pre-clear voter ID laws in states like South Carolina and Texas, has said voter ID laws were like poll taxes. Liberals like Bill Maher and MSNBC hosts like Al Sharpton have said voter ID laws are racist. And the DNC platform says Democrats will “refuse to allow the use of political pretexts to disenfranchise American citizens.”

The “voting rights” section of the DNC platform reads:

We believe the right to vote and to have your vote counted is an essential American freedom, and we oppose laws that place unnecessary restrictions on those seeking to exercise that freedom. Democrats have a proud history of standing up for the right to vote. During the Obama administration, the Justice Department has initiated careful, thorough, and independent reviews of proposed voting changes, and it has prevented states from implementing voter identification laws that would be harmful to minority voters. Democrats know that voter identification laws can disproportionately burden young voters, people of color, low-income families, people with disabilities, and the elderly, and we refuse to allow the use of political pretexts to disenfranchise American citizens.

Photo Credit: Barry Smith