The hypocrisy of the anti-photo ID crowd is obvious. Here’s one small example:
Click the link below to view video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZ7msilhNBo
All the arguments against a Photo ID requirement for voting are dubious at best. There may be legitimate concerns, but all of them can easily be gotten over.
For example, those very few who are financially unable to purchase an ID can be given one at minimal cost. $18 or $11 if you’re 65 or older.
The idea that some would be disenfranchised is nothing but fearmongering, because no proof is ever given to substantiate the claim. Another argument is the Photo ID would do no good. ID’s can still be faked, so the requirement wouldn’t necessarily eliminate fraud. Even if this argument has merit, the requirement would diminish vote fraud.
Maybe this is why a certain political party seems to be so virulently opposed to it. To some, it seems, an open-ended voting system which makes it relatively easy to steal a close election appeals to certain people of a certain political stripe.
We are a non-partisan group, interested in informing the electorate and promoting ideas that would enhance the integrity of the vote, thereby re-enfranchising voters, not disenfranchising them. If there is even one illegal vote counted, all legal voters are disenfranchised.
By MM
You continue to miss at least one point. The objection to requiring a photo ID to prove the voter’s identity — that is, to prove that the voter is who he says he is — is not so troubling. But most voter ID bills also require that the ID be (a) current and valid and (b) have the voter’s current address. This is the disenfranchising, objectionable part. Why does my expired passport or drivers license not prove who I am as well as my current one? And what about young and poor voters who move frequently? Do you really expect them to diligently purchase new drivers licenses or IDs every time they move, which can be every few months or more? I work as an election judge in a neighborhood with lots of students and immigrants in it (perhaps as many as 40% of all registered voters). Many of them move frequently, making getting new ID cards with current address very difficult and expensive.