Proving Your Identity

“State's voter ID law could shut out over half-million citizens”

The voter ID laws sweeping the nation have a clear, targeted impact on voters that is detrimental to a fair democratic process. More than 24 states have existing voter identification laws. One such law in Pennsylvania, the focus of this article, stands to disenfranchise up to 750,000 people in the coming election by requiring a picture ID to vote, a truly staggering number. Voter ID laws have the express purpose of deterring voter fraud, but many have pointed out that the cases of prosecution for voting fraud are dwarfed by the projected number of otherwise legitimate ballots rejected due to inadequate voter identification.

While voter ID laws probably do deter any voter fraud that might exist, the effects of these laws extend far beyond that stated purpose, and end up critically impairing a fair election. Among groups of people who are less likely to have a driver’s license, like the elderly and poor, these laws have a huge potential to selectively disenfranchise large numbers of the most vulnerable voters. This is fundamentally unfair, and is counterproductive in an effort to increase democratic participation.

I do not deny that it is also important to the democratic process to prevent voter fraud. A possible middle ground between the Pennsylvania law requiring photo ID, and no ID requirement at all, is asking for any document with the voter’s name and address, like an electric or telephone bill. This would ensure that the voter is indeed a resident of the area in which she is voting, while stopping short of imposing criteria too steep for many to fulfill. A compromise such as this one would solve both problems, and effectively preserve the ideal of a free election.

Disclaimer: I speak as an individual, NOT on behalf of Common Cause Hawaii. All opinions are my own.