News reports note that, apparently, adequate identification (i.e. photo
ID) is not required to vote in some states.
Huh?
How else can we start to assure the validity of people who are about to
vote without proper identification?
Photo Identification is not a new thing; picture IDs are required for a
wide range of activities, including:
• To drive a car
• To enter a federal building
• To get on an
airplane
• To open a bank
account
• To cash a check
• To buy liquor
• To buy cigarettes
• To pick up event
tickets at "will call"
Some suggest that requiring photo IDs in order to vote will
disenfranchise the poor and requiring an ID constitutes a poll tax against the
poor in order to vote.
However, the fact is that you need valid photo identification to
establish your identity in order to qualify for government programs.
The exact government programs that are designed to help the poor
require photo IDs.
Of course this makes sense because the administrators of these programs
want to eliminate fraud. Photo IDs are
required:
• To apply for food
stamps
• To enroll in
Med-QUEST
• To apply for General
Assistance
• To apply for welfare
benefits
The Constitution provides that citizens of the United States 18 years
of age or older shall be allowed to vote in federal elections, but the
Constitution otherwise leaves the eligibility of voters pretty much up to the
states. Some states, for example,
provide that convicted felons lose their right to vote.
The key constitutional requirement, however, is that a voter must be a
citizen of the United States. There is
nothing unique about this requirement, as every nation on the planet allows only
its own citizens to vote.
Voting the names of the dead, the non-existent and the non-eligible
cancels out the votes of citizens who are exercising their rights.
Requiring photo IDs is a legitimate measure to guard against vote
fraud. Why is that not appropriate for
every state?
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