LETTER: Voter ID law is a fraud

To the Telegram:

On April 4, a letter appeared in Telegram by James Harter of Superior. Although Mr. Harter was critical of the views I expressed in an earlier letter, I want him to know that I respect his right as a citizen of Wisconsin and the United States to be able to express opinions contrary to mine when he fills in a dot at his appointed polling place.

This is why it necessary to explain the new voter ID law could rob thousands of Wisconsinites of the right to vote because they lack adequate identification or the proper documents to get one. Many voters have encountered unwarranted hardship to conform to the new law.

For those who are unaware of the wrongness of the new voting law or who think we should be routinely required to prove our identities, I would suggest the next time you’re at the polls, imagine an election worker saying: “That’ll be $20.”

Then imagine being required, like Ruthelle Frank, to pay up to $200 to straighten out old mistakes. This is not something Americans should be asked to do.

I’m sure Mr. Harter would object, but this is exactly the kind of 24th Amendment issue that arises. It is undue burden and a poll tax the new ID law can cause for some.

Mr. Harter also seems to think the entire reason for the recall is because Democrats are sore that “we did not get our way.” If this were true, what other Republicans occupying the Governor’s Office have caused us to attempt recall?

There aren’t any.

Accordingly, maybe he should ask himself if this governor might be different.

The governor’s insistence that he is saving taxpayers from contributing to the nest eggs of public employees is untrue. The fact is Wisconsin’s teachers had already signaled willingness to accommodate the governor’s budget cuts, but never dreamed he would overreach his authority by ending their rights to collective bargaining. This implies the governor is not just motivated to break the back of public unions but also has forced legislation that appears to cater to out of state corporate interests like the Koch brothers, that he intends to eventually push to end all unions. This observation has been expressed by journalists in prominent periodicals like “Time” and, “The New York Times,” and as such, is not a frivolous accusation.

Virtuous budget cuts are only possible after considering the effects they have on those of us who need a quality education or public services. We cannot assign a butcher the task of performing delicate surgery.

Contrary to Harter’s opinion, the reasons for this recall are anything but frivolous, and they just happen to be approved by the Government Accountability Board and more than a million signatures on recall petitions that represent about half of all voters in the 2010 election. The state of Wisconsin guarantees the right of those million plus citizens to recall on behalf of many who feel Walker’s abusive policies are hazardous to our present and future well-being.

Yes, largescale fraud by Democrats and Republicans has happened, but individual misrepresentation the ID law purports to defend against, would be an extremely impractical way for Democrats to recruit the thousands of voters needed to sway the outcome. Misrepresenting one’s ID would be impractical when other types of fraud would produce better results.

It would be like a counterfeiter spending all his energy producing fake $1 bills when $50s and $100s would be more lucrative.

The voter ID law is a fraud and it will disenfranchise many voters. The most outrageous thing of all is it’s just plain unnecessary.

Peter W. Johnson,

Superior

Tags: opinion, letters