Thursday, July 26, 2012

Voter ID Law - What's the Problem?

As a Libertarian with strong conservative values, it is easy to identify the viewpoint of the far-left extremist.  And the dogged opposition from the left towards adopting a Voter ID law is a perfect example.


Photo ID is required to cash a check, to rent a car, to buy alcohol, to use a credit card, to board a plane - yet those on the left claim any photo ID law is simply a "ploy to disenfranchise" voters.  Talk about your conspiracy theories...

If fraud is so small as to make no difference in an election, then why such staunch opposition to a voter ID law?  What is there to hide?  And convictions for voter fraud are difficult to obtain, which yields ammunition to the argument that "actual"voter fraud is non-existent.

Of course, using this logic, I feel all warm and fuzzy to know that only 1055 people cheated on their taxes in 2010.  Or at least that's how many people were actually convicted by the IRS - and those guys have some serious stroke!

In truth, voter fraud during presidential elections is extremely small by percentage.  But where it truly makes a difference is during state and county elections, the local governmental positions which most directly effect the citizens who vote.

When you claim that a voter ID law is a Republican ploy, are you implying that Democrats are the only ones who attempt to commit voter fraud?  Or is it that Democrats are the party incapable of obtaining photo IDs?  What exactly are Democrats so afraid of when it comes to protecting the voting rights of the citizens of this country?  And why do you never hear of Democrats complaining about Republican voter fraud?

Voting is a right, but it is a "qualified" right, subject to citizenship, residency, age, etc.  You have a right to withdraw money from your own bank account at any time, but you must be "qualified" through proper identification to exercise that right.  In the same manner, you should be made to prove that you are indeed a resident of the county in which you wish to cast your ballot.

As to that 80-year old "people" you know who will be unable to vote if Texas enacts a photo ID law, perhaps she should make it a priority to obtain a photo ID if she wishes to continue to exercise her right to vote.  What is disgraceful is how Democrats always use Grandma to defend their continued quest to allow non-citizens to vote, or to pay voters to cast multiple ballots as they are bused around the counties on election night.

If the government were to establish a "national photo ID" and provide it at a minimal cost to all citizens, would this make Democrats happy?  It certainly should, if the disenfranchisement of legal voters was the true root of their opposition.

Finally, the US has a voter turnout averaging 48% over the last fifty years (55% for general, 40% off-year).  If anyone feels "disenfranchised" during any election, you still have two years in which to obtain the proper identification.

What does it take to vote in an election?  Before you can vote in any election, you must first register.  In order to register to vote, you must prove:

  • you are a United States citizen;
  • you are 18 years old by December 31 of the year in which you file this form (note: you must be 18 years old by the date of the general, primary or other election in which you want to vote);
  • you live at your present address at least 30 days before an election;
  • you are not in jail or on parole for a felony conviction and;
  • you cannot claim the right to vote elsewhere.

  • If you meet these requirements, you are then issued a Voter Registration card.  What's the problem with adding a photo to that card?

    Cost prohibitive?  Oh, please - with the $14 trillion that Obama will have added to our debt before he's run out of office, not counting the next decade of Obamacare taxes, don't tell me that it will cost the taxpayers too much.  If there is one thing Washington is NOT opposed to, it's the spending our money.