Dorothy Buchholz, a reader in Olathe, wrote me last week, railing over the Voter ID law passed by the Kansas Legislature, signed by the governor, and now in effect, which requires all voters to show a picture ID at the voting booth.
That law was a solution without a problem. As the reader noted, in all her years of working as a volunteer on voting day, she knows of only one case of voter fraud, and that was an individual who had property both in Missouri and Kansas. Cases of voter fraud in Kansas are extremely rare.
She wants to know why senior citizens were not excluded, inasmuch as those who are disabled or in nursing homes do not have driver’s licenses.
Indeed, Dorothy. It’s even worse than that. Only 89 percent of Americans eligible for a driver’s license have one, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University.
And the Kansas law may be challenged, because it requires Kansans without a driver’s license to pay for underlying documents to obtain a free ID, which some believe is like a poll tax.
But really, Dorothy, that is the least of our problems.
The next shoe to drop is on Jan. 1, when a much more odious requirement goes into effect in Kansas.
That part of the law requires proof of citizenship in order to register to vote in Kansas.
Although 13 types of documents are allowed as proof, most driver’s licenses will not do the trick. Rather, one will almost assuredly have to come up with a passport or a birth certificate.
Only about a third of Kansans have a passport.
I could not find out the percentage who have a birth certificate, but I know this: If you don’t have one, you may have a big hurdle ahead of you.
First of all, in most cases, you have to show a picture ID to get a birth certificate. So, if you are among the 11 percent without a driver’s license, you are in a world of hurt.
Also, if women have changed their names either by marriage or divorce, which includes the vast majority of women, to get a birth certificate, they would have to present either their marriage license or divorce decree. How many women have those lying around the house?
Our Secretary of State Kris Kobach says he wants to stamp out illegal immigrants from voting in Kansas, as if that were anything but a fantasy.
What he and supportive Republican legislators, as well as the governor, almost assuredly want is to suppress the vote of seniors, poor and minorities. They typically vote Democratic. I am a registered Republican, but this is no way to win.
Arizona and Georgia have had similar laws on the books, but the courts have held up implementation of their “citizenship” laws. Also, Alabama and Tennessee have recently passed their versions of this law.
No one knows how any state’s Supreme Court or the U.S. Supreme Court would rule, but I would bet that the Kansas Supreme Court will strike down this law, because, in fact, it will suppress the vote.
At least, Dorothy, one can hope.
Steve Rose, 913 freelance columnist, writes in this space each week.
Mike Hatch
1 year, 1 month agoHi Steve, Apparently you have not “heard” about the large number of “fraud” voters in St Louis, MO and Kansas City MO. Now I realize that isn’t Kansas, but let’s try 1 other state. In Indiana when the voter ID law went in effect, Lake County and St Joseph County had 22% fewer voters for a significant election. Of course, I know in Kansas maybe it is on .5% - 1.5% but what’s wrong with stopping them. Oh, Indiana offers voter ID at not cost and will even go to the person’s home.
Dan Wood
1 year, 1 month agoHey Mike, so how many fraud voters are there in St. Louis and Kansas City? Is it even close enough to swing an election one way or the other? I doubt it’s enough to even swing an election for a city councilman or school board member.
Jon Kraft
1 year, 1 month agoHeaven forbid all those dead people not be allowed to vote anymore!
Peter Skoog
1 year, 1 month agoHaving spent 20 years in France I have to question the motive of anyone who oppose Voter Identification Cards. In France and probably all of Europe you will not vote, receive government assistance in any form or submit a legal document without one, They are as common throughout the world as a Drivers License. You are are blinded in your sincerity to the absurdity of your position Steve as Carrie Nation was in her relentless but ridiculous pursuit of alcohol.
Jason Woodson
1 year, 1 month agoI would agree that any required voter ID be completely free and every effort be made to make said document convenient to get, I don’t see the big deal in requiring voter ID or see a vast conspiracy to disenfranchise voters. Voter fraud is an issue in many parts of the country and voter fraud disenfranchises voters too. My wife has copies of our marriage license and we both have copies of our birth certificates because we were told those were important to hang on to. Maybe we should stop making every possible exception for people. Having an honest election would make a huge difference in the reliability of our government. Here in Missouri, there is enough fraud in Kansas City and St. Louis to swing a Senate race, governor’s race, or Presidential election. We need to know that only eligible voters are voting to have faith in the system.
Sean Linnhoff
1 year, 1 month agoI guess I am confused about this. So people want to keep people who are here illegally from voting in elections that they have ZERO right to vote in to begin with? What is the problem. Steve you keep saying DL, no where does it say DL. A state provided document with a picture. As a Mo resident I show mine every time I vote. I am going to try to not show it next time and see what happens. This seems to me to be a Dem V Rep thing. If Dems would have sponsored it everything would be fine, but since it was a Rep it is bad. Please protect the right of the people who have died for my right to vote!
Marcia Dimick
1 year, 1 month agoSpeaking for largely conservative Johnson County, liberal Mr. Rose likes to tell readers he is a “Republican.” Everything from his love of Dennis Moore to his constant advocacy of higher taxes refutes this posturing. Voter fraud is so wide-spread that a caucasian individual recently presented himself to vote, telling authorities that he was “Eric Holder”. His statement was immediately accepted and he was given a ballot. When he asked if they would like to see his ID, the staff member declined. Many liberals freely admit that they vote multiple times. Speaking of the racist AG, Eric Holder, he has declined to prosecute members of the “Black Panthers” who threatened voters with physical violence at the polls who looked like they might not vote the way they wanted.
Dan Wood
1 year, 1 month agoFirst of all, I know there is voter fraud, there always has been, and there always will be. However, it’s not enough to swing an election.
Second of all, I’m fine with having to provide a government ID to vote as long as it’s free and accessible by everybody. Which means that if this is the way they want to go, they need to go to nursing homes and make sure that they can get ID’s to those people as well as some other types of homes. (I know people with cerebal palsy who have been placed in a home, nothing wrong with their mind, their body just doesn’t work as well).
Voting is a right in this country which means if you’re a citizen, you get to vote for free. I know when I go vote, I show my Driver’s license, but I only do that because I keep misplacing my voter’s ID card. If all I had was my voter’s ID card, which is a piece of paper with my name and address on it, I would still be allowed to vote. I’ve done it many times in the past.
TJ Lynn
1 year, 1 month agoWhen Rose says that “most driver’s licenses will not do the trick” he’s deceiving his readers. Every driver’s license issued in the State of Kansas will do the trick. Every single one. Why does Rose mislead his readers on this point?
John Kelley
1 year, 1 month agoFirst, many of the comments on this article express a strong belief that voter fraud is running rampant, yet no one cites one factual source to back up that belief. Can anyone provide examples in the last 10 years of real people who have been caught in the act of casting a fraudulent vote and convicted of said crime? I’m not talking about convicting someone of voter registration fraud or rigging election results, but actual voter fraud where someone shows up at the polls to illegally cast a ballot, is caught, tried, and convicted. That is what this law is supposed to prevent, yet where are the headlines and mug shots of this supposed avalanche of voting criminals.
Second, every voting jurisdiction in the nation already requires identification to vote. No one can arrive at the polls in any locale without providing some means of identifying themselves. This new Kansas law eliminates a number of these means of identification by limiting IDs to only a specific state issued ID. In other words, the law makes it harder to identify yourself, not easier.
Third, voting is a right, not a priviledge. It is a government’s responsibility to make every accommodation it can to ensure every voter can exercise that right. This law does the opposite of that by setting further hurdles and costs between voters and their ability to vote. No matter what political stripe you belong to you should be concerned about that change in direction, because today these hurdles may stop your political opponents from voting, tomorrow they could stop you.
Fourth, if this law was supposed to truly support citizens and their right to vote, then the process of obtaining the ID would be completely free, including the cost of obtaining birth certificates and other required support documents. The fact that no allowance was made for the state to cover those costs for a requirement it has put in place is a sign that something is wrong.
Daine Meinen
1 year, 1 month agoGood to see that his views don’t reflect the view’s of most of the readers on here. It has been evident how bad the voter fraud has been in other states that are like KS. The GOP has basically said they are going to run the primary as they see fit to ensure that they make who they want to win, win the primary. Requiring Voter ID will help stop the voter fraud.
Matthew Nugent
1 year, 1 month agoHow did everyone become convinced that this is a problem? The comments on here describe voter fraud as “ovbious”, “evident”, “widespread”, and “rampant”, and generally treat its existence as an article of faith. But I’ve never hear anyone prove that this is an actual problem. Can anyone give me some examples of recent elections that were fraudulently swung one way or the other? Facts, people. Facts.
Dan Wood
1 year, 1 month agoThe only time I’ve heard of voter fraud here lately is by the people trying to prove that it exists. They try to create a person who doesn’t exist or use a dead persons name and are getting arrested for it.
Linda Dutton
1 year, 1 month agoThanks Steve for the article. I give historical storytelling presentations at various retirement facilities in the area. I was, at one time, an activities director for an assisted living and personally took many “elderly voters” to vote. Voting was extremely important to them as it was one freedom that hadn’t been taken away from them (yet). This hits a chord. Thanks again.
Thomas Syverson
1 year, 1 month agoIn 2010 Kansas had 1,725,012 registered voters. In 2010 elections only 857,631 voted, leaving a majority or 867,381 who were registered but didn’t vote. How many of the 867,381 were ‘disenfranchised’ due to their belief their vote didn’t matter? If a twenty something man can represent he is the Attorney General of the US, middle aged Eric Holder in Holder’s own district, without any quesitoning by polling workers aren’t those who don’t vote to their skepticism of the system aren’t the truly ‘disenfranchised’?
Let’s try voter ID and see if voter participation actually goes up.
Kandace Khoury Mulholland
1 year, 1 month agoEven if there is NO voter fraud… at all, 0%. I am still 100% for this bill. Voting is a right of US Citizens (non-felons for now anyway) and we should be proud and happy to get an ID in order to do it. The very same people who whine and moan about it are also the ones who don’t raise a stink about needing an ID in order to obtain State benefits. Oh, and as to Mr. Rose’s point about women having gotten married… as a newly married woman I can tell you that we do keep our marriage licenses around because we have to until everything is changed over and yeah, it’s a pain but we can’t just say “You are discriminating against me because I am married.” There are so many other instances that we have to prove our identity, why not when we are performing our civic duty?
Sanford Sklansky
1 year, 1 month agoI was listening to Professor Richard Wolf. He talked about the French election. A few things. They have an 80 percent turn out for presidential elections. Voting is on Sunday. There were 9 people running. They all got equal time on TV. You do have to show a form of id to vote in France. This is the best information I could find about voting.
http://brennan.3cdn.net/c1fa9fa59ac91a6f8c_hs9ymvsrb.pdf However it does not say if if costs anything to register or how hard it is to get an id. Having said that I don’t think there is very much fraud in voting here.