Keeping Our Elections Free of Fraud

Fire of Liberty

After watching the debate in the House over the Voter Identification bill(Which passed 228-196) I have to say that the Republican led House of Representatives is reassuring the American republic that they're still committed to the wishes of the American voters in ensuring that registered voters(who are US citizens) are the only ones voting. While watching the whole debate unfold on C-SPAN, I got a little bothered by the Democrats constantly throwing up the "poll tax" rhetoric as a way to send this bill into the ether. To me(and a lot of other folks in the US) it's rather an affront to the American people for these Congressmen to keep on referring to the Voter ID bill as something out of the "Jim Crow" era. They could have a point if the bill said that you had to pay a entry fee every time you entered the voting booth but what the bill says is that if you want to vote then you to present a valid government issued photo ID which according to the bill will be free of charge to the folks who can't afford one. Now if you are required to present an photo ID to drive a car, write a check, open a bank account, buy alcohol, and other things of this nature then shouldn't we also lay out a law that requires a voter to prove who they say they are is the least we should do when it comes to our elections. With a large grouping of the Democrats still grumbling about the possibility of voter fraud in the 2000, 2002, and 2004 election you'd think that they would be the first group to embrace a Voter ID bill, which was one of the recommendations of the Jimmy Carter and James Baker led Commission on Federal Election, in an effort ensure that voter fraud or claims are kept to a bare minimum. Hopefully this bill will eventually become a law thus ensuring all of the citizens in this great republic that all our elections are fair and free of fraud. The House has spoken, let's just hope this clear-headed view of things prevails in the Senate.

*Glenn Harlan Reynolds(Instapundit) has a piece over at TCS Daily which points out ways that we can prevent possible election fraud in future elections. They're pretty good points.