I simply am flabbergasted at the outcry against providing a photo identification to vote. There is a bill before the Legislature this session and Democrats, especially, are crying fowl that by approving this, some alleged voters would be disenfranchised. I just don’t see it.

For every person in this country to register to vote, they must present a photo identification. Why do they have one to get a voter registration card and all of a sudden don’t have one when it comes time to actually vote?

Every person must present a photo identification to go to the doctor, be admitted to a hospital, get social security benefits, buy alcohol (at least those who look young enough) and to do just about everything else under the sun. There is no outcry against the need to present an ID for any of these things; yet, there is some kind of belief that people who want to vote don’t have identification and therefore are somehow losing their right to vote.

If one reads the bill, it actually says identification will be asked for. If a person does not have a photo identification, they can vote anyway! They must just vote a provisional ballot that will be determined at canvass if it is a vote to be counted. There are many instances of provisional ballots and in all the years I have covered elections, I have never heard anyone cry about have to vote that way.

I have heard the argument this week that the call for voter identification requirement is some kind of political right wing agenda to prohibit voters who would otherwise vote more to the left. I have heard that it will infringe upon the rights of our military to vote absentee.

I don’t buy into any of that. First, our military all have photo identification. Duh! And as for some agenda to deter people from voting for a certain party-I see the purpose as deterring people from voting who do not have the right to vote. I believe any case of voter fraud is a problem-it doesn’t just become a problem when it reaches mass proportion. A law such as this one would stop it from getting to such proportions.

This is not even a subject that deserves the time it is getting because it should be a no-brainer. You have to have an ID to live-to get a library card, to open a bank account, to get a credit card, to pick your child up from school for heavens sake! Are any of these things more important than selecting who makes and enforces the law of our land?

Unfortunately we live in a world today where deception is the norm. This law will help eliminate the potential for at least deception in the voting arena.