Voter ID

In South Carolina, when someone attempts to vote, he or she must provide a valid and current photo ID. I believe that such is necessary to ensure the integrity of our electoral process.

 

First, the evidence suggests that attempts at voter fraud are increasing. On October 6, 2008, the New York Times – hardly a right-wing rag – reported that about 400,000 ACORN filings had been rejected by authorities as duplicates, incomplete, or fraudulent. Think about that, and then think about the recent elections that have been decided by bizarrely slim margins.

Second, when it comes to elections, there seems to be a new “winning at all costs” subculture taking root in America -- an "ends justify the means" mentality.  For example, the host of a program on MSNBC said this in regard to an election in the State of Massachusetts: “I tell you what, if I lived in Massachusetts, I'd try to vote ten times. I don't know if they'd let me or not, but I'd try to. Yeah, that's right, I'd cheat to keep these bastards out. I would. Because that's exactly what they are.”

“A voter ID requirement strengthens voters’ rights by protecting the votes of all who vote legally,” writes Matthew Rousu, Professor of Economics at Susquehanna University for Forbes. “When voter fraud occurs, it dilutes and weakens the votes of all law-abiding voters. One could make a reasonable argument that by not forcing identification and encouraging fraud, you are violating the promise of one person, one vote.”  He is absolutely right.