Voting in Wisconsin has always been a cherished and respected right, and recently, this right has been under attack by a nationwide movement to impose stringent voter ID laws that disenfranchise people, rather than prevent, voter fraud. This past Monday, a column was printed in The Badger Herald that, sadly, misrepresented many things about the new voter ID regulations in Wisconsin. We are hoping to clear these issues up, and show just how far off-base an argument is that says stopping a voter ID law is wrong.

The main point advanced last Monday was the belief that voter fraud had “been a problem in Wisconsin for a long time.” We hope that this is merely because of misinformation, but the author was completely wrong on their most important point – voter fraud happens in Wisconsin and across the country at a minuscule rate. Let’s take a look at 2004‘s fall elections for a data point. A presidential election year that typically sees the highest turnout and thus, should see the highest number of cases of voter fraud. How many of these cases were there? Eight. Yes, out of 2,997,007 votes cast in Wisconsin, the voter ID law would have, at most, stopped eight fraudulent votes.

Sure, you might say, but why not stop these eight cases from happening? First and foremost, this law is being implemented in a way that will disenfranchise significantly more than eight voters, and they come disproportionately from groups such as minorities, the elderly and students. Yes, that’s right – this law unfairly targets students through stipulations made about what needs to be on a valid voting ID.

Do you have a valid voting ID? If you aren’t originally from Wisconsin, it’s doubtful, and that’s the case for many students. UW has been proactive in addressing this issue (stop by the Wiscard office in Union South to pick up a new voting ID). But this comes at a cost. The university will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on this implementation, and the state at large will see a combined price tag of nearly $5.7 million. Voting is a constitutional right. Arguments such as “you need an ID to open a bank account” thus fail; you don’t have the right to a bank account, but you definitely do have the right to vote.

We encourage all students to get involved in talking about this issue, and to go and exercise this right – before it’s too late.

Jordan Weibel ([email protected]) a senior majoring in botany and chair of the College Democrats of Madison.

Sarah Neibart ([email protected]) is a sophomore majoring in political science, Arabic, Hebrew and Middle Eastern studies and is the chair of Student Services Finance Committee.

Paula Uniacke ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in history and a member of Save the Student Voice.