Voter IDs: fradulent error

Matt Krombach
Sports Editor

Voter IDs have become a topic of conversation due to recent voter fraud and it’s come to the point that IDs are more necessary than ever.  In the past, deceased people have voted, and some citizens have voted more than once.  How does that happen?  If voters were required to present an ID, voter fraud would no longer be an issue.

 Within the past decade there were 649 million votes cast in general elections and 13 cases of in-person voter impersonation.  Although that statistic only shows what we know, how much fraud do we not know about?

So why do we need voter IDs?  Because they protect from voter fraud by ensuring that you are who you say you are.  Poughkeepsie Journal in New York found that 2,600 dead people had voted from the grave in 2006.  In 2008, the Florida Sun Sentinel conducted a study that showed more than 65,000 ineligible and duplicate voters were on Florida's registration rolls with 600 dead people still on that list. This ongoing issue can be stopped if voter IDs come into play. 

Many situations now require a photo ID:  SAT’s require a photo ID, even most places that you use a credit card require you to show an ID. When you go to the doctor’s office you need ID to show proof you’re the holder of insurance.  If you’re picking up mail from a FedEx or a UPS store, checking into an airport, corporate offices, liquor stores, nightclubs, and banks.  Plenty of locations require a show of ID, so why should they not be required when voting? 

Although opponents of voter IDs claim they can be discriminatory, that is far from the truth.  Voter IDs are intended to prevent voter fraud- that’s all.  To appease opponents, states must provide voter IDs for lower socioeconomic groups.  Why should voting be the only place you don’t have to present identification?