On March 19, The Badger Herald ran an article titled “Democrats wrong to stop voter ID law” by Vincent Borkowski – an article that fell far short of journalistic integrity, far short of academic thoroughness and should not have been published. Some slack can be granted for it being an opinion piece, but what is the value of an uninformed opinion?
In a study done by the non-partisan Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, it was shown that the rate of Wisconsin voter fraud in the 2004 election was 0.0002 percent of those who voted. To put this in perspective, that’s seven confirmed cases of voter fraud. The author’s claim, “I believe voter fraud has been a problem in Wisconsin for a long time” has no merit. There is no reason to think that the 2004 election was any different from prior elections, thus the opinion that voter fraud has “been a problem in Wisconsin for a long time” is baseless.
The two arguments, addressed by the author, in favor of legislation addressing voter fraud are that a voter ID is easy to obtain and will help poll workers verify the honesty of those who are voting. The remainder of the article is devoted to conspiratorial suspicions, unproven notions and na?ve opinions that hinder the honesty of such discussions.
This isn’t an opinion that’s held solely in Wisconsin. Recent voter ID laws have come under attack in other states – laws that were struck down by the federal government due to their disproportionate impact on certain groups of people. It’s not the well-to-do middle class that will suffer; it’s the working class, elderly, students and misinformed that will have their votes ignored due to a law that would not pass federal scrutiny.
The author’s claim that IDs are easily obtainable is particularly shortsighted. For a working class individual, taking the bus for 60 minutes to get to the DMV, standing in line at a place notorious for its long waits and returning on the 60-minute long bus ride is unconscionable. Tell a single mother how easy it is to go to the DMV to obtain an ID. Tell the elderly couple how easy it is to travel across town to obtain an ID. Tell the disabled how easy it is to travel on the city buses to obtain an ID. And don’t forget that the average daily closing time of the three DMVs in Madison is 4:54 p.m.
With 0.0002 percent voter fraud, a strict voter ID requirement is a reminder of days when poll taxes and other methods of voter suppression were used to sway the results. According to the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board’s website, it can be found that the “DOT-issued identification cards can be obtained for free, if … the elector requests that the card be provided without charge for purposes of voting.”
Should it be the onus of the voter to know that such IDs are free, … but only if they ask? How many people will take the initiative to get informed by researching the GAB’s website?
The left isn’t obsessed with making Scott Walker look bad, preventing mining bills just for kicks or supporting the voting habits of frauds, undocumented immigrants or those who choose to vote multiple times. Nor is it obsessed with how bad they’ll look if Scott Walker succeeds. All of these notions are arguments made by the right that are better suited for Rush Limbaugh and Fox News than they are a university newspaper.
It’s time that The Badger Herald opinion page publish articles of academic merit whose positions can be debated with non-partisan facts. Perhaps UW needs an editorial with right-leaning arguments, but Vincent Borkowski is not that author. This article only shows immaturity and a lack of compassion for those who are disadvantaged. As the inscription on Bascom Hall so eloquently states, “The great State University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”
Allan Leicht ([email protected]) is a graduate student in mechanical engineering.
