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Voter ID Bill A "Red" Herring
by Mark Sullivan
UWM Post
A sham. A massive fraud. Made up and missing voters. A danger to democracy.
Nearly three weeks after the Iraqi elections, Republicans are still crying foul. But their target isn’t Iraq, it’s right here in Milwaukee. Somehow, we are supposed to believe that while the Iraqi elections were “flawless” and a “huge success,” our own election back here at home was rife with fraud and deceit.
But for the Republicans, there’s one small problem: they’re making it all up.
Even in spite of the fact that the President himself has made calls for post-election “unity,” the Wisconsin GOP has taken dirty politics to an all new level. Instead of acknowledging real problems that actually exist, they have taken the usual step of just making up “problems” and coming up with “solutions” that will benefit them politically. As if controlling all three branches of government wasn’t enough, now they want to control who can and can’t vote too.
In response to their (false) allegations of voter fraud in Milwaukee, Republicans in the state legislature have taken it upon themselves to introduce a bill requiring that every voter produce a valid photo ID in order to prove that they are who they say they are. Now on its face this may sound like a good idea, but like most Republican plans, they always seem to forget about the specifics.
Why isn’t anyone outraged about the scores of voters who were turned away from the polls due to incorrect information they received from under-trained and overburdened poll workers? Why isn’t anyone outraged about the fact that people in Milwaukee waited in line for hours to vote in packed rooms on rundown voting machines, when the average suburbanite can walk in and out of their polling place in 10 minutes? Here’s a hint: Milwaukeeans don’t tend to vote Republican.
So no, instead of being outraged at a system that already makes it difficult for (city) people to vote, the Republicans have decided to be outraged at the voters themselves. Passing a bill that would require photo IDs does nothing but make it harder for people to vote. This bill discourages voting, and is nothing more than a blatant attempt at disenfranchisement, limiting the ability of the elderly, the poor, and even students to vote. Is it a coincidence that the people who would be affected most by this bill are also the most likely to vote for a Democrat? Absolutely not.
Any changes to the voting system in Wisconsin must be made the burden of the government and the local officials who run the elections, not the people showing up to vote. This is America, what is supposed to be the greatest democracy in the history of the world. We’re supposed to encourage people to vote, and do everything possible to make sure that everyone has a fair shot at it.
This bill is an absolute sham, a petty, partisan attempt at suppressing the vote. It’s an insult to the voters and it’s an insult to democracy. The Republicans should be focusing on the real problems, instead of just making them up.
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