Really, what is the problem? You go down to the DMV or County Clerk’s Office or whatever set up your local town or hamlet has and get a photographic ID made so the poll workers can verify your sacred vote is cast by no one other than yourself. As long as there is no charge for the ID, there cannot be a serious allegation made that this is an undue burden to the person who wishes to vote. Nor, as long as it is made available to any and all who wish to seek to register for the picture ID, can one seriously contend that this is some form of voter suppression. I may listen to an argument about forcing someone to do it every year but once every 2-4 years doesn't seem like too much of an imposition to me.
Now, for the record, I’m fully in favor of having federal laws that require states to provide absentee voting prior to the official election day –the Tuesday after the first Monday in November—for at least a week. Voting by mail has been done for nearly 100 years without any issues. Those who think this is a portal to fraud are just not thinking it through. Even more heinous is the position that you have to have a “good reason” to vote absentee; as if it is some sort of business of the State why you feel more comfortable about voting from your living room as opposed to going to the local school house. I am also for standardization of the voting devices as well as the picture ID I sponsored in the first paragraph. Meaning that someone from Peoria who happens to be in Pittsburgh and wishes to vote simply goes to the polling place, swipes their standard uniform voter ID card into the uniform and standardized voting device and their local ballot from Peoria comes up on the screen. They make their selections and go about their merry way just as they would do in person at their high school or fire department.
The resistance to having an ID to vote comes mainly from the left of which I’m a member in good standing in most of the online tests I have taken. I’m for a woman’s right to privacy, oppose Trump, am in favor or equal pay for equal work, am for raising the minimum wage incrementally to $10.00 an hour, am against separating families at the border except as a last resort, support the ACA, etc… However, on this topic, I have to call BS on those who think obtaining a picture ID card to vote is an undue burden or, more troubling, is unnecessary. I covered the “undue burden” argument already. As for the argument that it is not necessary, one should consider that every two years, there are a lot of local initiatives on the same ballot as the federal offices. These “down ballot” races do not get a lot of attention nationally and in some cases even locally. Raising the local tax rate or allowing the City or State to have more power can affect your family for decades. Wouldn’t you want the vote for such laws and ordinances to be of persons from your locality or State? And this is just the bi-annual elections. What about off year and primary races where the turnout is in the hundreds and a few votes cast inaccurately (either by accident or on purpose) can sway who the nominee becomes? Thinking it is unnecessary and reality are two different things.
Whatsmore is this; if we have the tools for accuracy….why not just make it as accurate as possible? It seems like a no-brainer to me.
