The Brennan Center For Justice based at the New York University School of Law published a recent report on the voter I.D. laws being enacted in Republican states. Their conclusion was that more than 5 million qualified American voters would be disenfranchised by these laws.
The Washington Post conducted a comprehensive investigation of voting records from the year 2000 through the present. Their conclusion was that there were over a billion votes cast nation wide with only a handful of cases of voter fraud. They also concluded that “in-person” voter impersonation, which is what photo I.D. laws are intended to stop is “virtually non-existent,” and that photo I.D. laws wouldn’t necessarily prevent cross-district voting anyway.
The people most affected by these laws are the young, ie. high school seniors without a drivers license, the poor, minorities and the elderly. Both political parties identify this as a Democratic voting bloc.
It logically follows that if voter impersonation fraud is statistically non-existent, and the last three presidential elections were won by less than 5 million votes that the real reason for these laws is for Republicans to win elections by any means.
Finally, it’s been suggested that this is a huge issue for Democrats and I couldn’t disagree more. As Americans, we should all be asking ourselves if it’s acceptable, moral, or responsible to pass laws that deny certain people their rights.
Rick Bechen
Town of Oregon