Still, the connection between the closed-out license services and opportunities to vote can’t help but feel pretty tenuous. While voting accessibility in black, rural counties is a problem, this was just as problematic when the now-closed, part-time services were open. The bigger loss from these closures is that people in these counties are losing a vital place to get a license to drive.
Not having cars and drivers licenses impedes Black Belt residents’ access to jobs and plenty of other social welfare offices concentrated in county seats. Speaking with State Representative Anthony Daniels about it, he told CityLab that, “It’s more of a quality of life issue than it is a voting rights issue.”
This is consistent with Campbell Robertson’s excellent NYT report from Alabama on this issue.
I think the point is that Alabama already makes getting the id so hard for poor folks this looks more like a piling on. But its practical effect may be minimal given the other barriers faced by these eligible voters.