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Securing Our Ballot Boxes Is As Important As Securing Our Borders

A version of this blog post appeared as an action alert for the American Conservative Union.

We all know the drill. In purchasing alcohol or tobacco, cashing a check or boarding a plane, you need a picture ID. No ID; no dice. The routine is uncontroversial and commonsensical.

But did you know that in order to vote in a national election—in order to exercise that most elemental aspect of democracy for which America’s founders waged a revolution—you need not show proof of identification?

And if you need not show proof of identification, you need not show proof of citizenship. Even Mexico recognizes the injustice, insecurity and fraud this system encourages, and so requires voters to—gasp!—present a picture of themselves when voting

Why, then, doesn’t the United States require the same?

As the editors of National Review have observed, as long as we rely on nothing more than the honor system, we are effectively inviting the 12 million illegals already here to influence the American political process. Does not the sanctity of the ballot box warrant as much protection as boarding a 747?

Thankfully, Congress has taken up this long-overdue cause, and earlier this week, the House of Representatives passed the Federal Election Integrity Act of 2006 (HR 4844).

The bill proposes two modest requirements: (1) proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote, and (2) photo identification when voting. By the November 2008 election, states must check for such IDs, and by November 2010, the only valid IDs will be those issued on the basis of citizenship.

A recent NBC/Wall Street Journal poll showed that 81% of the American people favor an ID requirement for voting. In another poll by Rasmussen, 77% of likely voters agreed that a photo ID should be required to cast a vote. Indeed, 24 states already require voters to present some form of identification when voting, and seven require that ID to include a headshot.

Yet since the courts have overturned some of these regulations—in Georgia, for instance—the time has come for a uniform federal standard.

So, using the below form, please e-mail your senators and urge them to pass this eminently prudent, embarrassingly overdue, and admirably taut legislation.

Don’t let your vote be offset by someone who has no right to vote here in the first place. Tell your senators to pass HR 4844 today.