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Voters might need ID
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Following an election littered with allegations of potential voter fraud, Republicans in the state legislature announced plans to introduce a state constitutional amendment requiring photo identification at the polls.
The amendment, to be proposed when the legislature reconvenes in January, would require voters to present a state-issued identification, such as a driver’s license, when casting a ballot. The amendment’s chief proponent, Rep. Jeff Stone, R-Greendale, says the measure is needed to prevent fraudulent votes from having an influence on elections.
“The trend nationwide is going toward photo IDs, and this will help insure the system [of voting] retains its integrity,” Michael Pyritz, Stone’s aide, said.
Stone proposed legislation last session requiring a picture ID at the polls, but Gov. Jim Doyle vetoed the bill after it passed both the Assembly and Senate. The legislature came up several votes short of overriding the veto.
With the constitutional amendment, which needs to be passed in consecutive legislative sessions before garnering a majority vote in a statewide referendum, Republicans hope to navigate around another Doyle veto.
However, Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison, says the amendment would disenfranchise a sizable chunk of voters. University students and the elderly often lack a driver’s license, he notes, or they might forget to bring it to the polls.
“This is unnecessary and it would discourage voting,” Black said. “The Republicans’ national strategy is to decrease the vote, from making people wait in the rain for six hours in Ohio to unnecessary requirements like this.”
To accommodate citizens without driver’s licenses, Pyritz said an alternative ID would be issued by the state free of charge.
Black counters that such a substitute would be flawed for the same reasons as the entire ID amendment: groups of people, like the elderly, would not be able to go out and obtain an alternative ID.
“It’s not always easy to get from rural areas to the Department of Transportation,” Black said. “Democrats want to rock the vote. Republicans want to block the vote.”
Wisconsin has long had one of the nation’s most liberal voting systems, which many credit for high voter turnout rates. The state is one of few nationwide to allow same-day registration.
But with few regulations come loopholes one can exploit to cast fraudulent ballots, critics say. In the days leading up to the Nov. 2 election, Republicans in Milwaukee challenged thousands of names on the city’s voter rolls, alleging they listed phony addresses on their registration forms. Milwaukee elections officials turned the challenge down.
“People were being registered when their address was a dumpster or a donut shop,” Pyritz said. “And it seems to be getting worse. We want everyone to vote and also make sure it’s their vote.”
Pyritz said he’s disappointed Democrats have not matched Republicans’ efforts at ensuring all votes are legitimate.
“It should be a nonpartisan issue.”
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Good. If Gov. Veto wants to veto this common sense law requiring ID, they should bypass him and put it into the state constitution. That law should always be in place, not subject to repealing by the legislature and governor anyway. I’m sick of all this fraudulent voting in Wisconsin.
I think the amount of fraud in voting in Wisconsin has been blown out of all proportion, but requiring all voters to show ID seems like a fairly simple, common sensical idea to help reduce whatever fraud there is.
You need ID to get a dog license but not to vote?
You need an ID to get a fishing license but not to vote?
You need ID to cash a check but not to vote?
Young people need ID to buy a beer but not to vote?
Pretty absurd when you think about it.
Hey Spencer,
Plenty of university students use their ID’s every weekend to find their ways into bars. If they can remember it night after night for four years, I think they can handle it once every four November’s. As for the old folk, if they can’t remember an ID, do we trust they’ll remember who or what they want to vote for or against? Find another excuse for the liberal lawmakers, because we are not buying this one.
“However, Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison, says the amendment would disenfranchise a sizable chunk of voters. University students and the elderly often lack a driver's license, he notes, or they might forget to bring it to the polls.”
That’s a fair point — the part about lots of voters not having driver’s licenses, I mean — but there’s a simple remedy. The DMV doesn’t just issue driver’s licenses, it also issues IDs that match up to all the requirements for photo IDs anywhere you could possibly need one. So the solution is to add a provision to the law requiring ID at the polls to issue voter IDs free of charge to any eligible voter without an alternative form of acceptable ID. Since the government will pay for the IDs, you can’t complain that people are being disenfranchised — the only people being “disenfranchised” are people who aren’t legally permitted to vote anyway. And the people who want the ID requirement get what they want without being charged with racism.