Letters: Voter ID pressure is unwarranted

I must respond to the letter writer who supports voter photo ID laws ["Solid reasoning behind voter photo ID," Jan. 16]. If anything, her reasoning is misleading. There are no statistics to support claims that voter fraud is a problem that has affected recent elections. The few instances of voter fraud mentioned by the writer are not on a scale to justify oppressive voter ID laws.

But the 2012 presidential election is only 10 months away and, as usual, the politics of fear is rearing its ugly head. There has never been a major problem in this country with people trying to vote illegally, but there is a long history of efforts to stop people from voting, and not just by Republicans.

The fact is voter ID laws, passed recently in mostly Republican-controlled states, impose a burden on the right to vote and violate fundamental guarantees of equal protection under the Constitution. They prevent people who do not possess government-issued photo IDs (and who are unlikely to vote Republican) from voting, people such as students, minorities, low-income voters, the disabled and seniors who are upset with talks of cutting Medicare. I have numerous forms of photo ID, from my driver's license down to my Costco card, and I would be outraged if I were required to show ID to vote, especially when I haven't been required to do so for the 35 years that I have been voting. The board of elections has my signature on file.

The writer wants us to believe that because there was an increase in black voters in Georgia in the 2008 election compared to the 2004 election, that voter ID laws do not depress turnout. That notion is absurd. The fact is there was an increase in black voters in Georgia in 2008 because of the mobilization to register young and minority voters and because there was a black man running for president.

The claim that photo ID should be required because it is required to "drive a car, to enter federal buildings, to open a bank account, to get on an airplane, to obtain welfare, to buy alcohol and cigarettes" is naive. None of those things are fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution. Voting is.

Susan J. Hermer, Commack
 

I have worked for the last 13 years as an election inspector or chairwoman. In New York, if it is your first time voting, we do ask for an ID, and we ask you to sign your name. We check to make sure your signature matches, we ask your address and we make sure that you are about the same age as the registered person.

Having a photo ID will not stop absentee ballot fraud, since the ballots are mailed in. So if that is the concern, it must be handled a different way.

What concerns me about insisting on a photo ID is that it is hard for the elderly and handicapped to obtain one. I have seen many such people make an incredible effort to vote. They are able to come in because someone volunteered to take a group. I know how difficult it is for many to stand in line. It is even more difficult in rural areas.

I hate to alienate those who are proud to take part in our process of voting, especially when there is no credible evidence of any epidemic of voter fraud.

Vivien Pollack, Melville
 

In my recent election to the Nassau County Legislature, I witnessed tactics that were used to discourage some citizens from voting.

Our campaign recruited more than 40 lawyers in an effort to stop some poll workers from trying to intimidate legitimate voters, such as asking only certain residents for copies of their electricity and water bills or for other proof of identity.

The laws that are being proposed or that are already on the books in some states have been and will be used to prevent minorities, naturalized immigrants, low-income and young voters from going to the polls and exercising their rights. These laws are quite simply in conflict with the Voting Rights Act. We should never condone voter fraud, and those who commit it should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. But we should not do it on the backs of legitimate citizens.

Carrié Solages, Elmont