There are so many social and political issues I want to discuss here that I decided to just address them as they pop up in the news. So this week the Supreme Court struck down an Arizona law requiring voters to show proper identification when registering to vote. I don't understand the problem with such a law; this has been made into a purely political issue.
Let's look at the arguments and counter-arguments. Identity programs are conceived to prevent voter fraud in order to protect the sanctity of the vote. Opponents claim that documented cases of actual voter fraud are rare. Actual cases may be rare, but the potential for much greater fraud will always exist if the system is not protected. Furthermore opponents claim that voter ID laws discriminate against certain classes of people who may not have picture IDs or be able to register in person. The counter-argument here is that this also is most likely a rare occurrence. I suspect that anyone who wants to be able to vote anywhere in America in the 21st century can get to the local municipal clerk one time to get registered and to obtain a proper photo ID.
It certainly seems that we need a way to prove who is a citizen of the USA. One of the most precious rights of a citizen is the right to vote. Without voter ID laws, voters would be on the honor system to vote properly. Even if the occurrence of fraud is low, some election results are too close to tolerate any fraud, especially local elections that are often decided by a margin of only a few hundred votes or less.
Conclusion: All voters should be required to show proof of citizenship to become registered. At the poll every voter should show a valid picture ID to ensure the person voting is in fact the one previously registered. I will go one step further in saying this should be a federal law, uniformly applied throughout the states. These are my thoughts - thanks for reading.
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