All this business about the ACORN community activists and multi-state voter fraud investigations debunk the arguments against requiring photo identification at the polls. It’s a problem that’s popping up across the fruited plain, not a wild-eyed conspiracy concocted by the Republican Party to suppress voter turnout.
In Ohio, for instance, some 200,000 newly registered voters have mismatched data. According to the Akron Beacon Journal, a federal appeals court ordered Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner to establish a system that provides names of newly registered voters whose drivers license or Social Security numbers don’t match other records in government databases. Brunner, however, appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court and won.
Opponents of voter ID claim fraud at the polls isn’t a widespread problem, and wrongly discriminates against elderly and poor people who don’t have driver’s licenses. That’s a weak argument, and the only way it would make sense is if everyone wasn’t treated equally.
We shouldn’t be taking a chance on voter fraud because voting is the most precious right we have in our democracy. Our government has a duty to do everything it can to protect the process and ensure its integrity.
Further, the Supreme Court has approved a decision allowing states to enact voter ID laws, but only five states have passed such measures.
When I vote, I hand the clerk my driver’s license, sign a sheet and receive a ballot. Actually, I now get a code to activate the electronic voting machine. It’s a simple, honest process. I have the option of presenting my voter ID card, which has no photo instead, but I don’t carry it around.
It’s difficult to function in our society without a photo ID. One is required to drive a car, cash a check, use a credit card and to fly on an airplane, among other things.
In Texas, the voter ID measure was approved 76-69 by the House in 2007, but was blocked from the Senate floor by Democrats. Two-thirds of the Senate must agree to bring a measure to the floor, but all 11 Democrats were against it.
Betty Brown, R-Terrell, the House sponsor in 2007, said she’ll be filing the bill again in November during the “pre-filing” period. She made the point that every objection brought up by the bill’s opponents was dealt with such as having the state pay for IDs if people can’t afford them.
Some of the critics of Brown’s plan come up with some of the most ridiculous excuses you’ve ever heard. I found where the editorial writers at the Texas Observer complained that some people are “intimidated by signs that would be posted at polling places warning that voter fraud is a crime.” That’s like someone saying a sign posted at an airport warning people they can’t bring a gun past a security checkpoint would intimidate them from boarding their flight.
What we need more of in our state and federal government is common sense, and voter ID is a no-brainer. It could go a long way toward eliminating fraud and give people more confidence in the democratic process.
It’s a shame the Democrats continue to offer excuses and play politics.