The Republican-controlled state Assembly recently passed legislation that would require all Wisconsin residents to show photo identification to prove their identity before voting. After all the investigations into alleged voter fraud in Milwaukee, this seems to be a logical, long-overdue precaution, right?
Wrong.
If you take a look at the facts regarding the bill, you will find it is nothing more than yet another illogical partisan ploy to disenfranchise potential Democrat voters and severely restrict one of our nation's most basic, inalienable rights.
Roughly 123,000 Wisconsin residents do not hold a valid, state-issued photo ID, including 85,000 seniors. This bill is an attempt to block elderly and low-income voters, those who generally vote along Democratic lines. Also, the requirement of holding a photo ID would disenfranchise the homeless, who have the right to vote under Wisconsin law.
Even more alarming is that 23 percent of the homeless population has served in the armed forces, according to the National Coalition of Homeless Veterans. We should not be disenfranchising those men and women who have fought so bravely to preserve our country's democracy.
As for the impact of this bill on students, the proposed changes could leave thousands disenfranchised. Because college students often move from year to year, few of them hold IDs that prove their proper place of residence. According to the new legislation, students who do not have their correct address on their IDs would only be allowed to cast a provisional ballot, discouraging even more students from voting.
In a day and age when turnout is well below what it could be, this bill sets yet another bureaucratic obstacle that would prevent even more citizens from voting. If this bill were signed into law, Wisconsin would join Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina and South Dakota as the only states that require a photo ID when voting. However, in Florida, Louisiana, and South Dakota, voters who do not possess a photo ID are allowed to sign an affidavit to prove their identity. Therefore, Wisconsin would join South Carolina as having the most restrictive voter registration laws in the nation.
In response to the alleged fraud in Milwaukee, investigations have found that the problems there have been more a result of overworked, underfunded and understaffed polling locations rather than actual voter fraud. In fact, only one case of voter fraud has been uncovered since the inquiry began in November. The proposed bill would do nothing to prevent future problems similar to the ones that occurred in Milwaukee. Rather, the $1 million a year set aside for the implementation of this project would be much better spent on more resources and better training of workers at polling places.
Presenting a photo ID when casting a ballot is also not a foolproof measure of proving identity and address. Under current Wisconsin law, a person's photograph on their ID can be up to eight years old, leaving much discretion up to poll workers to discern whether or not the person attempting to vote is actually the person named on their ID. Fake IDs would also be extremely hard to spot by inexperienced and overworked volunteer workers. Finally, a person's photo ID does not provide definitive proof of being a qualified elector, because an ID does not identify whether or not someone is a convicted felon or even a U.S. citizen.
While the Republicans have the right idea in attempting to reform Wisconsin's less-than-perfect electoral system, they simply did not choose the best strategy to get the job done. Instead of spending large amounts of time, money and effort to make voting more difficult and tedious, we need to focus on strengthening and improving current election procedures.
The Help America Vote Act has outlined numerous important procedures that would help make the electoral process more efficient and error-free. Under HAVA, the state must create a statewide, computerized voter registration list by Jan. 1, 2006. This list will allow election officials to easily and quickly verify voter eligibility and proper residency, helping to prevent voter fraud by keeping track of double registrations and disenfranchised felons. This list will also allow poll workers to verify the accuracy of information presented on voter registration forms, as it will be linked to the Department of Transportation drivers license database, the Department of Health and Family Services vital statistics database, and the Department of Corrections' felons database.
It is quite unfortunate that we live in a society today where citizens look for every excuse not to vote, including everything from \my vote won't even count"" to ""it's too cold outside to wait in line."" Requiring all voters to show a photo ID at the polls would provide yet another excuse for Wisconsin residents not to vote. Fortunately, Gov. Jim Doyle has recognized this and has vowed to veto this unjust and unnecessary legislation. He has gone even further to promise that he will not sign any bill into law that could potentially disenfranchise eligible voters.
While election reform and voter fraud are pertinent issues that need to be addressed and dealt with, it is important to remember that measures to combat these problems must be sensible, logical, and reasonable. Unfortunately, the proposed Republican bill does not fit these criteria.
opinion@dailycardinal.com.
