The electoral process must be protected

For some reason, requiring a valid photo ID before voting seems to be a controversial subject in some quarters. Surely, exercise of this most basic right should be guaranteed by a photo ID so that the franchise cannot be undermined by voter fraud.

A recent newspaper article found that a number of deceased persons have voted locally. A similar review by a TV station in Florida examined forms on which residents declined jury service on the grounds that they were not US citizens. Those results were cross-referenced with voter rolls which showed 94 of these non-citizens were registered to vote and that many had actually voted, or at least someone using their names had done so. While this was a small sample in one location, extrapolating this number over the entire state of Florida would have resulted in about 6,300 fraudulent votes in a state that determined the 2000 presidential election by 537 votes.

Unfortunately, prospects for passing legislation requiring photo ID at the polls are not bright. In 2011, AB 663 by Assemblyman Mike Morrell (R-Redlands) failed on a party-line vote in Elections and Redistricting Committee.

Requiring prospective voters to present a valid photo ID does not seem overly onerous, especially in light of the fact that photo IDs are required for such every-day tasks as using credit cards, cashing checks or driving cars. Mandating similar identification to guarantee the sanctity of the electoral process should be an issue upon which we can all agree.