Identity Crisis
Republican legislators are poised to pass a bill that would require all Wisconsin voters to display a photo-identification card every time they vote. The original bill specified that only a valid driver's license, state ID or military ID would suffice, but proposed amendments would add student ID's and passports. Free state ID cards would be provided to anyone who needed one to vote.
The ostensible purpose of the law is to prevent people from voting under a phony name. But is this going on now?
Suppose that someone I will call Harvey Schmidt wanted to vote as me in the November, 2010, election, when no ID was required. He could have simply gone to the Sherman School polling place and identified himself as Gerald S Glazer of 2944 North 50th Street.
But what if the real Gerald Glazer had already voted? (I usually vote around 8 AM) The ruse would be exposed, and Schmidt would have been arrested. But what if he came so early in the day (say, at 7:30 AM) that the real Gerald Glazer had not yet voted? All he would have to do was to convince Chief Election Inspector Cissy Glazer that he was her real husband.
Of course most voters are not married to or otherwise related to a poll-worker, but there is still a good chance that someone at the polling place would know the voter whose name the impostor was using. So the risk of arrest is substantial, especially in a small town where everyone knows everyone else. Someone might even recognize the impostor!
On the other hand, the benefit to the faker is not very great. While a crook might garner thousands of dollars by cashing a stolen check, and a terrorist may believe he will earn 70 virgins in Paradise by destroying a plane full of infidels, the most Harvey Schmidt could take by posing as someone else at the polls is one vote for some candidate for elective office. Big deal! Would you risk a felony conviction record and maybe a year in prison just to cast one illegitimate vote? Would your favorite politician risk jail for you? Why would anyone try to vote with a fake name, when most people don't even bother to vote at all?
Although identity theft is a major problem in our society, I do not believe it is a significant factor in vote fraud. The use of absentee ballots, which can be sold or used in the presence of someone offering a bribe, is a much bigger threat to the honesty of elections, but no one seems to worry about that.
The truth is that even if state ID's are free, many voters who lack a driver's license will not bother to go to the Courthouse to get one. Poor people are less likely to have a driver's license, although some do drive anyway. Even now, poor people vote at a lower rate than middle-class people, and the photo ID requirement will reduce their participation even more. And that is the real reason that Republicans are keen on requiring a photo ID.
The ostensible purpose of the law is to prevent people from voting under a phony name. But is this going on now?
Suppose that someone I will call Harvey Schmidt wanted to vote as me in the November, 2010, election, when no ID was required. He could have simply gone to the Sherman School polling place and identified himself as Gerald S Glazer of 2944 North 50th Street.
But what if the real Gerald Glazer had already voted? (I usually vote around 8 AM) The ruse would be exposed, and Schmidt would have been arrested. But what if he came so early in the day (say, at 7:30 AM) that the real Gerald Glazer had not yet voted? All he would have to do was to convince Chief Election Inspector Cissy Glazer that he was her real husband.
Of course most voters are not married to or otherwise related to a poll-worker, but there is still a good chance that someone at the polling place would know the voter whose name the impostor was using. So the risk of arrest is substantial, especially in a small town where everyone knows everyone else. Someone might even recognize the impostor!
On the other hand, the benefit to the faker is not very great. While a crook might garner thousands of dollars by cashing a stolen check, and a terrorist may believe he will earn 70 virgins in Paradise by destroying a plane full of infidels, the most Harvey Schmidt could take by posing as someone else at the polls is one vote for some candidate for elective office. Big deal! Would you risk a felony conviction record and maybe a year in prison just to cast one illegitimate vote? Would your favorite politician risk jail for you? Why would anyone try to vote with a fake name, when most people don't even bother to vote at all?
Although identity theft is a major problem in our society, I do not believe it is a significant factor in vote fraud. The use of absentee ballots, which can be sold or used in the presence of someone offering a bribe, is a much bigger threat to the honesty of elections, but no one seems to worry about that.
The truth is that even if state ID's are free, many voters who lack a driver's license will not bother to go to the Courthouse to get one. Poor people are less likely to have a driver's license, although some do drive anyway. Even now, poor people vote at a lower rate than middle-class people, and the photo ID requirement will reduce their participation even more. And that is the real reason that Republicans are keen on requiring a photo ID.
posted by Gerald S Glazer at 3:15 PM
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