Gov. Rick Scott says he’s trying to keep people who aren’t entitled to vote from voting in Florida, but every source from The New York Times to The Daily Show has shown that his voter purge is nothing but a ham-handed attempt to skew the November election results for the state. And the more Scott protests, the more obvious it is that he his efforts are aimed at a problem that, if it exists at all, is of miniscule impact.vote
That said, it seems to me that there is value to the proposition that voters should show a photo ID when they come to the polls. But our efforts should be toward making sure that all voters have relatively easy and affordable access to some sort of government-issued ID. This is the kind of requirement that should not be imposed without significant support to make sure it can be complied with. And it should be done later. How about 2016? Four years would provide enough time to create and execute a plan for universal identification.
To tell the truth, I still marvel that so many citizens don’t have a simple ID card. It’s been a long time since my 16th birthday and while I’ve never had a driver’s license, I’ve always had a state ID card issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles. If this can be easily attained in Washington State, the District of Columbia and California, I can’t see a reason why it isn’t true in the other 48 states.
Here’s a question: How does anyone conduct daily business in 2012 without such an ID? I know there are special cases, but in general can it be done? I’m never without mine because I’m routinely asked to show it – and not just at bars and nightclubs. In the old days, I needed it to have a check accepted; now I’m asked to show it when I use a debit or credit card. Even more fundamentally, since 1986 I haven’t been able to take a job without a photo ID to prove I had the right to work in the U.S.
Gov. Scott and his cronies should be ashamed of their blatant efforts to steal the presidential election for the Republicans, but they have brought a valid point to light. We should move to make sure all of our citizens can access identification that will facilitate their participation in public life.