Keep Away the Vote

Keep Away the Vote

The New York Times looks at the Real ID bill just passed by Jim Nussle, Jim Leach and their friends:

The bill was sold as a means of deterring vote fraud, but that is a phony argument. There is no evidence that a significant number of people are showing up at the polls pretending to be other people, or that a significant number of noncitizens are voting.

The actual reason for this bill is the political calculus that certain kinds of people — the poor, minorities, disabled people and the elderly — are less likely to have valid ID. They are less likely to have cars, and therefore to have drivers’ licenses. There are ways for nondrivers to get special ID cards, but the bill’s supporters know that many people will not go to the effort if they don’t need them to drive.

If this bill passed the Senate and became law, the electorate would likely become more middle-aged, whiter and richer — and, its sponsors are anticipating, more Republican.

That's not to mention the cost:

New federal security rules for issuing driver's licenses could cost $11 billion to implement, raising concerns among states about paying for the changes, according to a national survey of states released Thursday.

'There's no question that state legislators believe driver's licenses should be as secure as is possible,' said William Pound, executive director of the National Conference of State Legislatures which helped conduct the survey. 'The $11 billion question is, 'Who's going to pay for it?''"

Hm. I think that's easy to guess...

This guilty till proved innocent mindset is all the more reason to elect Mike Mauro Secretary of State. Back to my thesis in that race: Democrats want to help people vote; Republicans want to keep people from voting.