As America faces a critical election year, our nation's election system is a mess. States are not prepared to effectively handle 2008 elections.
That's the opinion of Dr. Robert A. Pastor, director of the Center for Democracy and Election Management at American University in Washington, DC.
Pastor's gloomy summary is that, "Voters are likely to face hassles with registration lists and voting machines. Poll workers will remain under-trained and overworked. Election management remains under the thumb of partisan officials, and voter identification is likely to remain problematic. 2008 is unlikely to be an improvement over 2006."
Pastor's employer, the Center for Democracy and Election Management at American University released a study last month providing more evidence that photo ID's are not obstacles to voting.
A random sample of registered voters in Indiana, Mississippi and Maryland found that only 1.2 percent of registered voters lack a government-issued photo ID.
More than two-thirds of all registered voters in the three states believe the electoral system would be trusted more if people had to show an ID to vote.
The study also demonstrates that a very small percentage of registered voters will be adversely affected by a photo ID requirement.
Nearly a quarter of the registered voters in the three states lack confidence that their votes will be counted accurately, and an even greater number perceive that fraud is more widespread than experts believe.
Other key findings:
• The issue of showing a photo ID as a requirement of voting does not appear to be a serious concern in the three surveyed states.
• Almost all registered voters have an acceptable form of photo ID available (e.g., driver's license, passport, military ID or some combination of these documents).
• About 1.2 percent of registered voters do not have a photo ID, but half of those have documents proving citizenship, and most of the states have provisional or absentee ballots or other exceptions that could permit people to vote.
• More than 97 percent of all registered voters in the three states surveyed could produce proof of citizenship, either a birth certificate, a passport, or naturalization papers.
• Nearly one-fifth of registered voters saw or heard of fraud at their own polling place, and an even larger number, 64 percent of all respondents - reported hearing of fraud elsewhere.
• Nearly all, 96 percent of voters in this study said showing a photo ID would not make them less likely to vote.
• Opposition to voter IDs has come largely from those who fear that this requirement will disenfranchise voters who do not have IDs or would find it difficult to acquire them. But they were unable to locate a single individual in Indiana who was prevented from casting a ballot because they lacked an ID.
Conclusion: Photo ID's are not an obstacle to voting. Photo ID's are an important piece of the solution to fixing a system that is in desperate need of repair. All states, including Wisconsin, need to adopt photo ID laws to restore confidence and credibility to our election system.
- Sen. Mary Lazich, R-New Berlin, can be reached at Sen.Lazich@legis.wi.gov. or
(800) 334-1442.
That's the opinion of Dr. Robert A. Pastor, director of the Center for Democracy and Election Management at American University in Washington, DC.
Pastor's gloomy summary is that, "Voters are likely to face hassles with registration lists and voting machines. Poll workers will remain under-trained and overworked. Election management remains under the thumb of partisan officials, and voter identification is likely to remain problematic. 2008 is unlikely to be an improvement over 2006."
Pastor's employer, the Center for Democracy and Election Management at American University released a study last month providing more evidence that photo ID's are not obstacles to voting.
A random sample of registered voters in Indiana, Mississippi and Maryland found that only 1.2 percent of registered voters lack a government-issued photo ID.
More than two-thirds of all registered voters in the three states believe the electoral system would be trusted more if people had to show an ID to vote.
The study also demonstrates that a very small percentage of registered voters will be adversely affected by a photo ID requirement.
Nearly a quarter of the registered voters in the three states lack confidence that their votes will be counted accurately, and an even greater number perceive that fraud is more widespread than experts believe.
Other key findings:
• The issue of showing a photo ID as a requirement of voting does not appear to be a serious concern in the three surveyed states.
• Almost all registered voters have an acceptable form of photo ID available (e.g., driver's license, passport, military ID or some combination of these documents).
• About 1.2 percent of registered voters do not have a photo ID, but half of those have documents proving citizenship, and most of the states have provisional or absentee ballots or other exceptions that could permit people to vote.
• More than 97 percent of all registered voters in the three states surveyed could produce proof of citizenship, either a birth certificate, a passport, or naturalization papers.
• Nearly one-fifth of registered voters saw or heard of fraud at their own polling place, and an even larger number, 64 percent of all respondents - reported hearing of fraud elsewhere.
• Nearly all, 96 percent of voters in this study said showing a photo ID would not make them less likely to vote.
• Opposition to voter IDs has come largely from those who fear that this requirement will disenfranchise voters who do not have IDs or would find it difficult to acquire them. But they were unable to locate a single individual in Indiana who was prevented from casting a ballot because they lacked an ID.
Conclusion: Photo ID's are not an obstacle to voting. Photo ID's are an important piece of the solution to fixing a system that is in desperate need of repair. All states, including Wisconsin, need to adopt photo ID laws to restore confidence and credibility to our election system.
- Sen. Mary Lazich, R-New Berlin, can be reached at Sen.Lazich@legis.wi.gov. or
(800) 334-1442.
