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Eric's avatar

I'm sincerely trying to better understand the subject of the resistance to Voter ID laws, and am hoping I can get a factual non-partisan reply.

First of all, as numerous investigations have clearly proven, voter fraud in American elections is miniscule. It's not even large enough to qualify as a rounding error on a spreadsheet. And from what I understand, when voter fraud is identified, it has usually been performed by a Republican.

That being said, I need to have an ID if I want to cash a check at the bank. In the days before chip-based credit cards became commonplace, you often had to show an ID to use your credit card. I don't understand why the need to show an ID to confirm your identity in order to cast a ballot is an unreasonable requirement.

Down the street, here in Massachusetts, when you go to vote, all you need to do is provide your name and street address. There are nine precincts in my town. Theoretically, if I knew the names and addresses of eight other residents, I could cast eight additional ballots by claiming to be those people. While voter fraud is not occurring, the current system (at least here in Massachusetts) is ripe for abuse.

The only stipulation I have with Voter ID laws is that if you implement that law, you must make it reasonably easy for people to get a government-issued ID. Having one office, located on a remote dirt road in Skowhegan, that's only open on Tuesdays between 2:00 and 2:15 isn't going to cut it.

I'm smart enough to know that I'm missing some of the pieces to this puzzle and welcome your feedback.

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