Editorial: Voter ID bills take stage
The next great presidential election battle could turn on a simple and reasonable concept: Voters should be required to present valid identification before casting a ballot.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry has signed legislation requiring a valid photo ID from Texas voters.
In many so-called "battleground states," in which Democratic and Republican presidential candidates will fight for an edge over the other, this has become a potentially huge issue.
In Texas, which doesn't get much attention from presidential candidates - given that it has been a dependably Republican state for the past several election cycles - this issue hasn't fueled as much passion.
But the question needs to be asked: What can be so wrong with requiring voters to prove that they are who they say they are?
Democrats contend that the voter ID notion pushed by Republicans smacks of Jim Crow legislation that sought to disenfranchise African-American voters before enactment of federal voting rights laws in the mid-1960s. They also contend that poorer citizens who tend to vote Democratic are less likely to have valid photo IDs - things such as driver's licenses and passports - than many other Americans.
But on the other side of the fence, Republicans say that the electoral system needs to be protected against even the hint of troublemaking by those who aren't qualified to vote.
Has it been proven that we've seen a rash of unqualified voters - namely those who are in this country illegally - casting ballots? To be candid, no. Thus, opponents of voter ID likely have a valid argument that there is no existing circumstance that compels such a law.
The electoral process is too susceptible to the possibility of fraud to allow any opening for those who wish to do damage to the system.