My Suggestion On Voter ID Issue

The card above is basically what a Texas Voter Registration Card looks like these days. For many years now this is the only thing you needed to have to vote in any election. I'm sure your state has something similar. This system has worked pretty well, and there is really no need to change it, but the Republicans in Texas want to change it anyway.

They claim that they need to prevent voter fraud, even though they have absolutely no evidence of any kind of widespread (or even small-scale) voter fraud in the state. But facts and evidence don't have a lot of meaning for Republicans. The charge of fraud has been made, so for them it must be true. And they have passed a new law to deal with this non-existent fraud. They now demand that a voter not only have a Voter Registration Card, but also produce some form of ID with a picture on it (like a driver's license or state ID card).

There is some question whether this new law is constitutional or not, and the matter is currently being taken to court. That's because many Democrats believe that the Republicans aren't really trying to prevent fraud as much as they are trying to suppress votes, and the Democrats are probably right about that.

I have a suggestion. I'm sure a lot of you may think it's weird, but hear me out -- I think it'll work in this computer age. And it would have two advantages. It would vastly increase the voter pool (something Democrats would like) and it would prevent fraud (something Republicans say they want).

My suggestion is to do away with Voter Registration Cards. Let anyone with a driver's license or state ID card (or Military ID card) vote. Both of those cards already have the person's age on it, so no one under the age of 18 could use it to vote. And it would be easy for the state to add a box for citizenship -- it would just have to be a small box where either a Y (for yes) or a N (for no) is entered for citizenship status. The legislature could easily require this.

To avoid the constitutional requirement that no "poll tax" be required to vote, the state should simply issue state IDs free of charge. Only a small fee is now required, and the state budget would not be hurt by waiving it. The larger fee for getting a driver's license could still be collected, since anyone just needing to vote (and not drive) could get a free state ID.

Now this would require the counties to invest in a computer system that would flag a person who has already voted (using the license or ID number) to prevent anyone voting more than once. The system would also need to recognize addresses and place them in the right precinct. This computer system could be paid for with the money that would be saved by no longer needing to print and mail Voter Registration Cards or compiling books of registered voters (since ALL citizens would automatically be qualified to vote simply by getting a license or ID card).

This would also simply the procedure for voting at the polls. A worker would simply enter the license or ID number in their computer, and after verifying they are in the correct precinct, enter them in the computer as having voted. If wanted to verify the correct number of votes have been counted, a simple sign in sheet could be used. But there would no longer be the involved process of checking Voter Registration Cards against the massive voter registration rolls.

The only drawback I see with my proposal is getting people to the right precinct, but I don't think that would be a huge problem. Most people would be in the right precinct by simply going to the voting precinct nearest to their home. Precinct maps could also be printed in the local paper, and also be able to be accessed on the website of the county clerk (where you just type in your address and if gives you the location of your voting precinct). The few people who would slip through the cracks and show up at the wrong precinct (something that currently happens also) could be directed to their proper precinct by poll workers.

As I said before, this system would prevent fraud because a picture ID or license would be used. But it would very probably also increase the number of people who actually vote. You would no longer have to be registered 30 days before an election, and anyone could decide at the last minute they want to vote (and be able to do so). It would be sort of like same-day registration -- only easier.

I'm sure there are probably some problems I haven't thought of, but with a little creative thinking I think they could probably be overcome. What do you think?