Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Identifying the True Voter ID Scare

Last May, voters in Texas overwhelmingly approved a state law establishing a voter identification system.

Yesterday, the United States Justice Department vetoed it.

It's become a contentious issue with ominous partisan overtones.  Who'd have thought presenting a photo ID when you vote would be so scary for some people?  Yet, here we are.  Democrats claim Republicans want to disenfranchise minorities at the ballot box, while Republicans claim Democrats don't want to eliminate a major loophole for voter fraud.

Democrats say voters would be disenfranchised because many minority and low-income voters don't already have any form of photo ID.  They say Republicans are trying to whittle away as many votes as they can, however they can do it, so as to win more elections.

Personally, I don't like the thought of needing voter ID cards.  I think it further advances Big Brother government intrusions into our privacy.  I think voter ID cards will be just another government document that can be too easily forged, potentially making them about as valid as some drivers licenses.  And I think obtaining a voter ID card could be a significant inconvenience for some elderly citizens of the United States who already have a hard enough time working their TV remote.

But as much as I don't like the thought of needing voter ID cards, I also realize that they are needed nevertheless.  We've got to be more proactive in preventing voter fraud, and voter ID cards will help in that regard.

It's been frustrating listening to Democrats - and only hard-line Democrats oppose voter ID cards - who "doth protest too much," to paraphrase Shakespeare.  I heard one professor at a Southern college claim that no cases of voter ID fraud exist, which only proves how uneducated some educators are.  Here in Texas, practically every election yields some form of voter fraud, and much of that fraud involves voter identity.  Just check out some of the stories from Dallas County to see how voter ID cards could help keep some of our elected officials out of jail.

Perhaps not coincidentally, the political party most often claimed by Dallas County politicians convicted in voter fraud is... Democrat.

Some liberals love to cloak Republican efforts towards voter ID cards in menacing terminology like "voter suppression."  As if Republicans are trying to prevent people from voting!  Okay, maybe Republicans are trying to prevent people from voting more than once in the same election, but if that's what liberals call "voter suppression," then who's the party with the weaker morals?  If "one person = one vote" isn't worth enforcing, then how genuine is democracy?

Yes, we all know that Republicans would love for everybody to vote straight-ticket Republican.  But the inverse is also true for Democrats.  So that's a non-issue.  More pointedly, however, is the fact that Democrats have a bad history with voter fraud.  We know they let dead people vote.  They've been known to bus black churchgoers to multiple polling places.  Feeding and even paying voters, filling out ballots for voters, and otherwise controlling (Republicans call it "rigging") elections.  Sure, Republicans have their own dirty tricks when it comes to elections, but just because Democrats haven't figured out how to outlaw them doesn't mean that Republican attempts at staunching rampant Democratic fraud aren't legit.

And if the Republicans really are playing dirty politics, why don't the Democrats call their bluff?  Why not have liberals carry the banner of election ethics instead of conservatives?  This is one of the ways of politics that baffles me:  why does the other party automatically have all the bad ideas?  Why don't partisan politicos put the energy they use bashing the opposition into portraying themselves as the champion of the underdog?  You'd think that Republicans would be the ones opposed to voter ID cards because of their Orwellian, regulatory tone.

Why should Democrats be scared of voter ID cards if Republican claims about their electioneering tactics aren't true?  If liberals really wanted to take the lead on election ethics, they would be taking the lead on election reform.  By blowing up the voter ID card issue into a grand partisan war, Democrats look like they're desperately holding on to the last few tricks of theirs that help them win elections.

Suffice it to say that the reason voter ID cards are necessary stems mostly from poor election practices among voters who generally vote Democratic.  So it makes sense that Democrats are going berserk trying to paint Republicans as anti-minority and anti-poor.  They say it's all about depriving people who don't drive - and therefore don't already have a drivers license - of the right to vote.  Funny, though; because my aunt, who's never driven a car or needed a drivers license, has always had a photo ID card from New York State.  It's just not called a drivers license.

And all these Hispanics whom Texas liberals claim don't have drivers licenses?  Pardon my political incorrectness, but are these people legal residents of the United States?  How do they get to work if they don't have a drivers license?  Texas isn't known for its robust public transit infrastructure.  Do you mean they're all driving around illegally?

If Democrats really want to push their weak reasons for opposing voter ID cards, then they'd better be careful.  Give Republicans enough information about all the other laws your constituents may be breaking, and pretty soon, those constituents might tell you to just hush up!

I don't like the fact that we need voter ID cards, but open and free elections remain one of the few trophies of American life that haven't been perverted by corruption.  By preventing the deployment of tools that could help minimize corruption in our elections, the Democratic Party tramples on the spirit of its very name.

Unless they can come up with a better way to keep the United States from turning into Chicago.
_____

1 comment:

  1. The bottom line is that the people who don't have the wherewithal to get to the polls tend to vote Democrat. They are the ones paid by the hour who can't afford to take a day off and stand in line, the ones who don't live within 40 miles of an office where they can get this taken care of. If the Republicans want to make this a priority, then we need to make it easy for everyone to do it. Yes, it's definitely important. Important enough to provide access to everyone who wants to vote. Well written!

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