Voter ID Laws

by Gerard Emershaw

Democrats and Republicans are partisanly divided over the issue of voter ID laws. Whether or not a potential voter must present identification in order to vote, and if so, what forms of identification are acceptable, varies from state to state. Thirty states have enacted some form of voter ID law for the alleged purpose of preventing voter fraud.

Some claim that voter ID laws serve to disenfranchise minorities and the poor. President Obama has recently claimed that voter rights are threatened by voter ID laws. According to a study conducted by NYU’s Brennan Center, 11% of voting-age citizens (21 million) lack necessary photo ID. A disproportionate number of these Americans lacking photo ID are low income, racial and ethnic minorities, and the elderly. Many of these people cannot afford the fees associated with obtaining a photo ID. Some Americans—particularly elderly rural blacks—do not have a birth certificate and sometimes lack the means to acquire one in order to be eligible to receive a photo ID.

Those who support voter ID laws do so because they claim voter fraud is a significant danger. However, there is little evidence that voter fraud has been a widespread problem in American elections. For example, a 2007 analysis done by The New York Times found that there were only 120 cases of voter fraud filed in five years by the Department of Justice, and these resulted in only 86 convictions.

One need not be a cynic to view much of this as what it really is. Part of it is clearly a ploy by desperate RINOs to disenfranchise votes that are more likely to go to Democratic rivals. Instead of staying true to conservative principles and seeking to attract non-traditional Republicans to the conservative cause, RINOs simply wish to shrink the voting pool. This will not work for long, and will eventually just lead to the demise of the GOP. If Republicans want to ensure that voter fraud does not occur, why not in addition to voter ID laws, fund and staff programs to ensure that every adult American has an acceptable form of ID? The fact is that many Republicans want to disenfranchise Democratic voters and many want to have the issue to use as red meat to energize its conservative base.

However, Democrats are equally guilty here. Coming up with a national or state-by-state strategy in which citizens lacking a photo ID could be aided financially and logistically to obtain one would not be particularly difficult or costly. The federal government and the state governments clearly waste taxpayer money on nonsense, so certainly some bored and lazy government workers and the necessary funds could be found to make this a reality. The truth is that the Democrats do not want those without photo ID to be empowered. They want these people to be dependent upon the government in general and upon the Democratic Party in particular. The Democrats want to have the race card to play as red meat for their base. The best way to prevent alleged racists from disenfranchising poor minority voters without photo IDs would be to help these voters get photo IDs. Yet, year after year, this does not happen.

Even if cases of voter ID prosecuted are rare, this does not mean that voter fraud is not a problem. Even if no cases are ever prosecuted, this does not mean that voter fraud does not occur. Even the possibility of voter fraud is unacceptable if it can be prevented. Democracy does not mean merely that periodically there is an election and people vote. Many nations have elections, but many of these nations are not even close to being true democratic republics. Consider Afghanistan and Iraq. Between candidates and parties being barred from running, crooked criminals and American puppets running, violence intimidating voters, and fraudulent practices, neither of these nations is likely to have a truly fair and democratic election anytime soon. American elections need to be kept as clean and fair as possible. There is often only a razor’s edge between a true democratic republic and a banana republic with bogus elections.


While the Constitution does not explicitly guarantee citizens a right to vote, it is obvious that such a right would be covered by the Ninth Amendment. Thus, in an important sense, denying eligible voters the ability to vote due to voter ID laws without ensuring that they can easily obtain the required type of ID is a violation of a natural right. 

This controversy is easily solved. Institute programs within the states to ensure that all American adults have photo IDs. Then institute and enforce voter ID laws. How difficult is this? Instead, despite the fact that there is generally so little relevant difference between the major American political parties, the Republicans and Democrats feel the need to play games and use the issue for propaganda purposes. This is yet another reason why mainstream American politics needs to change.