What Is the Voter ID Act?

It is now in the latter part of July and moving closer to mid-terms and November. Congress has not yet passed a bill to require U.S. citizenship to register to vote and picture identification to vote. In their article published at The Daily Signal, Don Palmer and Elizabeth Schlueter discussed a proposal to improve election identity. 

Voter ID Act (HR 9368) was sponsored by Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis. [and] passed the Committee on House Administration June 24. It was attached to the Stop Insider Trading Act (HR 7008) as an amendment and will be heard in the House Rules Committee. This is a crucial step toward authorizing consideration of the Voter ID Act for final passage on the House floor….

The bill requires voters to show photo ID when casting a ballot in a federal election, creates a grant program to provide valid IDs for voters who cannot afford them, and allows voters who forget their ID on election Day to cast provisional ballots – all measures that have proven effective in the states….

The Voter ID Act offers five options for valid photo ID: driver’s license, state-issued identification card with a photo and expiration date, U.S. passport, military ID, and tribal ID….

Americans are accustomed to providing photo ID for other important transactions, and the Voter ID Act makes provisions for voters who struggle to obtain a qualifying ID before Election Day. Requiring a valid ID at the polls ensures that our ballots are as well-protected as our booze – seems like common sense. Even the Olive Garden never-ending Pasta Pass requires photo ID!

The authors shared several examples of voter fraud from across the nation that are gathered in The Heritage Foundation’s Voter Fraud Database.

For instance, last September, Louisiana used the SAVE database and identified 390 noncitizens on its voter rolls; 70 of them had illegally voted in at least one election. The state recently brought charges against one of the illegal voters and anticipates more such cases.

Given that 22 states are not using SAVE or attempting to establish an agreement with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to do so, one can only guess at how many noncitizens are on other states’ voter rolls….

As we head into midterms, legislators should take the commonsense route and establish federal means of enforcing current election statutes by passing the Voter ID Act if it arrives on the House floor. Americans deserve to know that only legitimate voters are casting ballots come November.