Of all the meaningless debates being had in American politics in the run-up to the presidential election, none is more perplexing then the schism over voter ID laws.
America stands alone compared to most Western nations when it comes to voter ID laws. In Israel and most European countries ID is required to register to vote. In fact, 46 out of 47 European nations require ID to vote.
According to CNN (not exactly a bastion of conservative news) 80% of Americans support photo ID requirements to cast a vote. I don’t think we could get such an overwhelming majority of Americans to agree that ‘dinosaurs are cool’ or ‘ice cream is tasty’, and yet there is widespread bipartisan agreement about voter ID laws.
It’s easy to understand why most Americans support federal voter ID laws.
🔷 Coming in at number one with a bullet…. voter ID laws could help prevent voter fraud. Fraud can take many forms, including impersonation fraud, double voting, and voting by non-citizens.
If people are inherently law-abiding and there is never risk that someone will engage in any of the aforementioned types of fraud, we must ask ourselves why we require ID for so many other activities?
After all, I need an ID in America to do a lot of things.
Here’s a small and incomplete list of just a few activities that require me to show ID:
To get on a plane
To fill out an I-9 form at work
To set up utility bills or purchase insurance
To buy alcohol or cigarettes
To drive a car
To open a bank account
To get married
To buy a gun or get a hunting license
To go to a casino
Even to donate blood
Some of these even require multiple forms of ID. Yet, I never seem to hear the argument that requiring ID for these activities is an undue burden on citizens.
Curious.
🔷 Another strong argument is to ensure the peaceful transition of power by protecting one of our most sacred Democratic pillars, our elections.
In order for fraud to take place, you need two components. You need someone to have the will to commit fraud and you need them to have the capability to carry it out. Let’s put aside will for now, and just focus on the fact that not requiring ID opens the door to the possibility that fraud can occur if the will to do it is present.
Whether or not you believe voter fraud is common or even likely, millions of Americans are skeptical about the integrity of our elections because in many states there are no obvious safeguards to prevent voter fraud. By reducing the possibility for potential election fraud to take place by requiring ID, we can restore and improve people’s faith in elections, which will promote the acceptance of election results.
If you’re truly worried about the degradation of social norms regarding the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to the next, you should staunchly support common sense voter ID laws.
Before we go any further, there are a lot of misconceptions about this topic. Many states already do require voter ID, as you can see on this map below from Newsweek.
So we’re really talking about roughly a dozen states in the Northeast and on the West Coast that do not require any form of ID, either photo ID or otherwise. I don’t think yo need to be a political scientist to notice a trend that these are largely states that tend to lean to the Left in most elections.
So we have to ask ourselves, what are their arguments for not requiring any form of ID and why do they support those positions?
🔷 Economically challenged communities might be disenfranchised if they’re unable to obtain IDs.
This would be a generous interpretation of this argument, that some people may not be able to take off work or don’t have the means to get to the DMV to get an ID. A cynic would argue that the Left actually believes that minorities are either too stupid or lazy to obtain a government ID and therefore will not vote if one is required.
These arguments are not supported by research done on this topic. A recent study highlighted in Vox news (again I am intentionally citing liberal media outlets) showed that voter ID laws do not meaningfully discourage voter turnout.
This is a hollow and classist argument that simply has no basis in reality.
🔷 Another claim is that it’s important that the states’ decide voter laws and not the federal government
According to Ballotpedia, on a national level, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) is responsible for enforcing federal campaign finance laws. Since 1975, the FEC has managed public funding of presidential campaigns. It also oversees limits on campaign contributions and publishes information on how campaigns raise and spend money for the presidency, vice presidency, U.S. Senate, and U.S. House.
Why is it that the FEC can be responsible for overseeing these types of activities, but cannot require common sense voter ID requirements?
Indeed, the Elections Clause in Article I of the U.S. Constitution does give states the power to set the “Times, Places, and Manner” of elections. This clause is commonly interpreted as allowing states to create “rules concerning public notices, voter registration, voter protection, fraud prevention, vote counting, and determination of election results.” That said, the clause also holds that any laws Congress may pass regulating congressional elections would preempt state law.
In other words, the FEC absolutely has legal standing to require voter ID if Congress wills it, which I believe they should.
🔷 I am left with only one last logical conclusion as to why anyone would oppose voter ID laws. They believe voter fraud may benefit their political team.
I don’t personally see any other logical argument beyond encouraging non-citizens to vote (who may be more inclined to vote for Democrats due to their more lenient stance on border policies and amnesty proposals). Why else would only predominantly blue states be the ones encouraging, or at least ignoring, potential voter fraud.
I encourage you if you disagree with me to let me know why in the comments. I am open minded and willing to listen to logical arguments and facts if you are.
However, the more you try to gaslight me, and people like me, about this issue, the stronger my belief becomes that your intentions are nefarious.
To sum up, if we agree that voter fraud is rare (which I am willing to concede is probably true) and we agree that voter ID laws will not meaningfully impact turnout with citizens who can legally vote, why not require every voter to show ID?
This would eliminate a significant source of mistrust in the country that could help unite us without any negative impacts. People have fought and died for our right to vote and to be flippant about protecting voting integrity is shameful.
Let’s pass voter ID requirements as federal law in every state, so we can move on from this issue, and onto much more important and consequential debates.
No matter what you believe or who you decide to vote if you’re American, please take time to get informed about the issues and exercise your right to vote.
Sources
Voter ID laws do not reduce voter turnout https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/2/21/18230009/voter-id-laws-fraud-turnout-study-research
Voter ID laws by state https://www.newsweek.com/map-shows-voter-id-laws-state-1950691
46 out of 47 European countries require ID to vote https://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2021/06/04/study-46-out-of-47-european-countries-require-photo-id-to-vote-n2590454
Most Americans support Voter ID laws https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/25/politics/voter-id-election-law-voting-rights/index.html
Tons of stuff that requires an ID because duuuuuuuh https://www.stilt.com/immigrants/22-things-that-require-a-photo-id/
Who is responsible for overseeing US elections (FEC) https://ballotpedia.org/Who_runs_elections_in_the_United_States%3F_(2020)
Americans believe voter fraud is real https://www.kcra.com/article/get-the-facts-poll-2020-election-fraud/44727949
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