WHYOPPOSEPHOTOIDFORVOTERS?

Itmayseemlikecommonsensetosomepeople,butrequiringvoterstoshowagovernment issuedphotoIDbeforevotingisabadidea.Hereswhy: Voterschoosepoliticians,nottheotherwayaround:VoterIDisjustonevotingrestriction amongmanythatpoliticiansinstatesacrossthecountryarepushingaspartofapartisan agendatocreatelawsthatcoulddisenfranchisemillionsofeligiblevoters.Itswrongfor politicianstoplacerestrictionsoneligiblevotersfortheirownpersonalgain. Preventingvoterfraudisimportant,butvoterIDcoulddisenfranchisethousandsofeligible votersinthenameofelectionintegrity.InNorthCarolina,theStateBoardofElectionsreports thatupwardsof500,000peoplemaynothaveadriverslicenseorstateissuedIDcard.People whooftenmove,lowerincomeadults,seniorswhodontdriveandwomenwhochangetheir namesaftermarriagearealllesslikelytohavecurrentID.Thebottomlineisthatnoeligible votershouldbeturnedawayfromthepollsbecausetheydon'thaveacertaintypeID. VoterIDunfairlyimpactssomevotersfarmorethanothers.ThenewpushforvoterIDlaws andotherrestrictionsmirrorpasteffortstointentionallycreatebarrierstotheballotboxfor somegroups,particularlyAfricanAmericansandpoorwhites.WhethervoterIDlawsare intendedtodiscriminateornot,thetruthisthattheydo.InNorthCarolina, AfricanAmericansare22%ofallactiveregisteredvoters,buttheyare31%oftheactive registeredvoterswhodonothaveaNCphotoID. Womenare54%ofactivevoters,but66%ofthosewithoutaNCphotoID. Seniorsare18%ofactivevoters,but26%ofthosewithoutaNCphotoID. Youthare13%ofactivevoters,but16%ofthosewithoutaNCphotoID. VoterIDWillCostTaxpayers:IfVoterIDisrequired,thestatemustprovidefreeIDtoanyone whodoesnthaveit.Thatcostalonecouldbeinthemillions.Iflocalelectionsboardsaretasked withprovidingthefreeIDs,thecostofmakingthosefallsoncountybudgets,whicharealready strappedinthiseconomicclimate.IsVoterIDreallyworthincreasingpropertytaxesor divertingmoneyfromeducationorotherneededpublicprograms? HiddenCosts:EvenifvoterswhocurrentlylackIDweregivenfreeID,theystillhavetopayfor thelegaldocumentsneededtogetID,suchasabirthcertificateorsocialsecuritycard.These documentscanbehardtoobtainandcostmoney.Italsocostsmoney(andtime)togettothe DMV,thesocialsecurityadministration,oracountyrecordsdepartmentstoobtainthese documents.Forlowincomevoters,thesebarriersaresignificantandunfair. Doesisreallystopfraud?PhotoIDforvotersdoesntstophonestmistakesorvoterfraud causedbyerrorsinvoterregistrationorcomputerglitches.Andunderthecurrentproposal, voterIDdoesnotsafeguardelectionsagainstvoterfraudviamailin,absenteeballots(which havebeenshowntoleadtofarmorefraudthaninpersonvoting).