In recent years, voter integrity groups have grown and picked up steam in their efforts to combat voter fraud. The movement has become so popular that states are finally listening and cleaning up their rolls. Honest elections have even been a true bi-partisan effort. Afterall, who wants their election “stolen?” People on the left and right sides of the political spectrum can agree on poll watching practices and cleaning up the voter rolls, but they seem to be parting on one issue: voter identification cards. Why?
Liberals have argued against voter ID cards by saying everything from it being tantamount to a poll tax, to being racist, to being a way for Republicans to suppress voting. The right says that voter ID cards are just another tactic in ensuring that voter integrity is kept.
I happen to believe that it would be a help to ensuring honest elections. Let’s examine the opposing arguments:
- It’s a poll tax. Not unless you charge for the ID. This is something I would not be opposed to be provided to all at taxpayer expense.
- It’s racist. How? If everyone has equal access and must jump through the same hoops, how can it be racist?
- It’s a way for Republicans to suppress voting. Not exactly. It is a way to suppress ILLEGAL voting.
But progressives may have a point. Voter ID is meant to keep illegal aliens (by the way, “illegal” is not a code word for Mexican like liberals would have you believe) , unregistered voters, and people voting multiple times from voting. So if that is what is meant by suppressing the vote, then it’s true. Progressives have worked hard to make it easier to register voters. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Unfortunately, the unintended (I may be too forgiving) consequences are that registering voters became so easy that it has been opened up to more corruption.
The left did not promote initiatives such as “motor voter” out of the kindness of their hearts. They were looking to find ways to register their kind of voters. Democrat voters are typically younger and less educated than Republican voters. The youth are impatient. The traditional way of registering to vote was perceived to be too cumbersome by young Americans. It’s really not, but as we say in sales, perception is reality. Motor voter has made it possible to register voters on impulse, like buying the candy bars that you see at the check-out line. You don’t need to block off a day and make an appointment to go to get registered to vote. You can get registered within five minutes on a day that you hadn’t even thought of voting. As a consequence, voter turnout on the Democrat side has increased.
Voter ID cards have the potential to reverse these gains. More than anything else, voter ID cards are seen as an inconvenience. Can you imagine the OWS crowd standing in line waiting for their voter identification cards? I hate to say it, but many Democratic voters don’t exercise their right to vote if they see it as an inconvenience. So I guess the progressives are right after all. Voter ID could suppress voting, but only by the left’s own doing. no wonder they are worried.
