Jim Crow, Tip O'Neill, Barack Obama and Me

I don’t know about you, but my ears are getting numb from all the talk about Voter ID Laws which have been passed by state legislatures around the country.  For all practical purposes, it is the Democrats who say that this legislation will suppress voter turnout and call it racism.  They also point to studies that seem to indicate that such legislation will do nothing to curb voter fraud.  Balderdash!

 

We all will stand upon soapboxes all day long and proclaim that free and fair elections are what makes this nation great but then we fail to take the steps necessary to make certain that every vote cast by a registered voter is counted.  What’s up with that?

 

What’s wrong with verifying that the person casting a ballot in the name of a registered voter is actually that voter?

 

Since poll workers cannot possibly identify every single registered voter, it cannot be unreasonable that some form of identification ought to be required.  In the many discussions being held around the country, the talking heads are always focused on federal elections and the impact that Voter ID Laws will have on the outcome of them.  These discussions overlook an important point about elections, as we were assured by former Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill, that “all politics are local.” It is in local elections that Voter ID Laws are most important and, in fact, where all fraud occurs.

 

There are many small cities in this country.  These cities are larger than towns like mine which has a population of about ten thousand where everybody knows everybody, but are small enough that a block of 30 votes can easily sway a city council election.  In these cities, sitting council members know everyone in their ward or precinct and where they live. It isn’t a difficult task for these officials to monitor their constituents and know everyone who has moved out of their ward or died during over the last 4-years.  The official marches down to city hall and gets a copy of the voter roll for his ward.  Then, he simply goes down that list, checking off all those voters who have died or moved away.

 

On election day, the incumbent then journeys to a nearby town (in my community, these people use church buses for this particular trip) and finds a number of folks who are willing, for the low, low price of a case of beer, to cast a vote for him/her, using the names of those voters who are still registered but no longer living in the precinct or living at all. It’s all very easy, and it happens quite often, but a Voter ID Law will stop it.

 

Studies have been required in each of the states which have passed Voter ID laws to determine if the law would unfairly impact poor voters. Naturally, since these voters- particularly the elderly and those who get assistance of some kind – already have and use their identification regularly, it costs them nothing. So the argument about “Jim Crow” is so much nincompoopery.

 

In those immortal words of Barack Obama, “The people who don’t want to disclose the truth are people with something to hide.” Amen!

 

“Local” is where all elections take place, and it is also where all voter fraud takes place, whether it concerns federal, state, or local elections.

 

Fair elections are great.  Honest elections are essential.