Opinion Editorial
Representative Charles Perry
3/12/2012
Contact: Charles Perry
806-281-0649
It’s Time for Obama’s DOJ to Stand Down on Voter ID
In the 2011 Legislative Session, I was one of many co-authors of the Photo Voter ID Legislation to curve voter fraud. Currently, you don’t have to show an ID to vote. This means our elections are not secure and left wide open to fraud. It also means that illegal immigrants and non-citizens can vote, and there are even incidences of legal citizens voting multiple times.
The Democrat Party has long stated that it doesn’t believe ID’s should be necessary to vote and that there is little proof of actual voter fraud, despite widely distributed news reports, and testimony, showing otherwise. They go further to claim that voter ID laws are a political tactic to prevent minorities, college students, and seniors from voting because they believe these groups are the least likely to have an ID. To help ease their concerns, though they seemed more political than legitimate, we voted to direct the Department of Public Safety to issue free ID’s.
Meanwhile, polls have consistently shown that Republicans, Democrats, and independents overwhelmingly support showing an ID to vote. So, why is the Democrat Party so out of touch with its members?
Most seasoned and first time voters naturally show their ID when voting, unaware it’s not required. Those looking to vote illegally take advantage of our current laws by simply telling the election worker a name and showing a non-photo ID and then proceeding to vote for that person. This is one reason we find out post-election that deceased people showed up to vote.
As the New York Times reported in February, we have 1.8 million dead people listed as active voters in the United States, and some 2.8 million voters have active registrations in multiple states.
The problem with prosecuting those engaged in voter fraud is once they have voted, there is no evidence that they actually cast the particular ballot. Since we do not identify ourselves on ballots, there is no record of the actual person who voted because they don’t have to show an ID to receive a ballot.
President Obama’s Department of Justice is now challenging Texas’ Voter ID Law, and hopes to prevent similar laws from around the nation from being enacted. Fortunately for us, the United State Supreme Court used common sense when already ruling in favor of a similar law passed in Indiana.
A cornerstone of democracy is that our elections are secure. A legitimate government can only be maintained by secure elections, which in turns helps provide economic and civil stability. Even our neighbor Mexico requires an ID to vote, and in turn has a much higher turnout rate than U.S. elections.
It’s time to secure our elections once and for all. I urge the Obama Administration to no longer stand in the way of the will of Texans and the Texas Legislature. Showing an ID to vote is pure common sense and Texans of all political backgrounds overwhelmingly support this policy.
State Representative Charles Perry (Republican) was first elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 2010. He is a resident of Lubbock and a practicing CPA.