To ID or not to ID?

Every election cycle we hear complaints from liberal groups about supposed voter discrimination. And as states look to safeguard elections from voter fraud, this year is no different.

A federal court ordered Texas to revise its strict voter identification requirements, allowing residents to cast ballots in the November election, even if they can’t provide any of the seven documents the law had required. Last week, a district judge approved new interim rules negotiated by the plaintiffs and the state that allow people to present certain expired documents as proof of citizenship and residence.

Similar battles over voter ID laws are being waged in other states, notably Wisconsin and North Carolina.

It’s worth reviewing the list of the seven proofs of identification Texas law had required: a Texas driver license issued by the Department of Public Safety (DPS); a Texas election identification card issued by DPS, a personal identification card issued by DPS, a license to carry a handgun issued by DPS, a U.S. military identification card containing the person’s photograph, a U.S. citizenship certificate containing the person’s photo; or a U.S. passport.

Granted, most poor people are unlikely to have a passport, but the state will issue any legal resident an ID card, and the application can be made by mail or online. Are civil rights groups who sued the state contending that poor and minority people are so inept that they can’t apply for an ID card? If so, how are they able to apply for food stamps, which require a photo ID?

Three years ago during a similar controversy, Ashe Schow of The Washington Examiner compiled a list of 24 things that require a photo ID.

You must have a photo ID if you are 25 or under and wish to purchase alcohol or cigarettes. Signs in stores say so. Want to open a bank account? Photo ID required. Here are the rest of the categories: applying for welfare, Medicaid and Social Security (presumably poor people take advantage of one or more of these programs); apply for unemployment benefits (ditto); rent/buy a house, or apply for a mortgage; drive/buy/rent a car; get on an airplane; get married; buy a gun; adopt a pet; rent a hotel room; apply for a hunting or fishing license; buy a cellphone; visit a casino; pick up a prescription; donate blood; apply for a license to hold a demonstration; buy an “M”-rated video game; or purchase nail polish at CVS.

Why is voting the one category in which you don’t have to prove your legal identity? Why are liberal groups determined to repeal laws requiring proof of citizenship and residence? The answer is clear. Since many poor people are receiving government benefits, they are responsive to Democrats’ claims that Republicans want to cut them off, so they had better vote early and vote often, as the saying goes, or else. Notice the left never focuses on emancipating people from poverty. That might make the poor independent of government, and they need that reliable voting bloc.

Unless discrimination against an individual can be proved, these voter ID laws should be upheld. Lawful American voters deserve to know that their votes won’t be canceled out—as they have in the past—by double voting and votes from dead people, illegal immigrants, people with false addresses, and those who say their name is Mickey Mouse. All of these scenarios have occurred in previous elections and are likely to be repeated in this and future ones without proper identification.

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