Dear Conservative,

Voting should be sacred. The government should make sure that only American citizens are allowed to vote. But that isn’t what happens.

The Obama administration has taken it upon itself to sue any state that tries to enforce a voter ID requirement. Eric Holder has filed lawsuits against Texas and North Carolina in an attempt to bully states into abandoning Voter ID requirements.

Eric Holder claims that since voting is a “right,” no one should ever be forced to show a photo ID to exercise that right. That’s funny, exercising the Second Amendment is also a right, but you don’t see Eric Holder complaining about burdensome background checks or a photo ID requirement! But, I digress…

Opponents to voter ID laws claim two things: that voter fraud is not a widespread problem and that voter ID laws are designed to suppress voter turnout.  

The data proves that voter fraud is rampant in this country and anyone with half a brain knows that voter ID isn’t racist, nor does it suppress the vote! Instead of vilifying states that are trying to defend the sanctity of our election systems, the Federal government must work to ensure that only U.S. citizens are allowed to vote!

Protect our elections! Tell Congress to institute Voter ID laws nationwide!

Voter ID is actually pretty simple. Under these laws, you can’t vote unless you show an approved form of photo identification. If you are too poor to afford a photo ID, or if your religion prohibits you from being photographed, many states allow for you to vote without an ID. If you forget your ID at home on Election Day, you can either sign a provisional ballot which will be counted once you return with your ID or some states allow you to sign an affidavit and vote without identification.

Critics of the law say that this is a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist. Yet, they ignore all of the evidence…

According to Pew Research, 1 out of every 8 voter registrations is outdated, inaccurate, or fraudulent. On top of that, 1.8 million deceased individuals are still on the voter rolls and in many states, they continue to vote long after they have passed away. At least 2.75 million people are also registered to vote in multiple states.

Voter fraud is a real issue. The data shows that not only is the sanctity of the vote being threatened but that ineligible people cast ballots every year!

A NBC affiliate in Florida researched voter fraud for two months and when they recently released their findings, the results were shocking. Reporter Andy Pierrotti wanted to see how many illegal aliens and non-citizens were registered to vote. But the voter rolls themselves don’t give people access to addresses. So, what Pierrotti did was nothing short of genius. He compared the voter rolls in one Florida town to the list of individuals who were excused from jury duty because they weren’t citizens.

In many states, jury pools are predominantly made up of registered voters. When someone registers to vote, they are automatically entered into the pool of prospective jurors. When the jury notifications are sent out, respondents have the option to request an exemption on the basis that they are not a U.S. citizen.

By comparing the non-citizen jury excusal forms to the voter rolls, Andy Pierrotti was able to find close to one hundred immigrants who were illegally registered to vote.

Contrary to what the Democrats and RINOs believe, citizenship is not something that can just be given away. It must be earned. And with U.S. citizenship comes great responsibility. While citizenship allows individuals to vote, it also requires them to serve jury duty as well. The citizenship requirement was no impediment to these people when it came time to vote, because voting is easy and relatively painless. But, when it came time to serve on a jury duty, these non-citizens were quick to use their immigrant status as an excuse to get out of serving.

These people are scum! Anyone who defrauds the American people and tries to illegally influence an election should be deported immediately!

Protect our elections! Tell Congress to institute Voter ID laws nationwide!

The second claim that liberals make is that voter ID requirements unfairly target elderly and minority communities. Apparently, the assumption is that once you reach old age, you suddenly become incapable of possessing any form of identification. Opponents also claim that minority communities are too poor and too disadvantaged to figure out a way to get their FREE voter identification card.

How condescending is that! Liberals actually believe that the elderly and minorities are too poor, infirm, and stupid to figure out how to obtain a government issued ID.

You need an ID to buy alcohol, cigarettes, a car, an airline ticket, a gun, a house, a pet, a hotel room, a cell phone plan, prescription medication, certain cold medicine, and even nail polish.

You need an ID to apply for a bank account, a job, food stamps, welfare, Medicaid/Social Security, unemployment assistance, a hunting or fishing license, a permit to protest or hold a rally, and you need ID if you want to donate blood. Liberals claim that the elderly do not possess identification. I am sure that in some cases, this is true. However, considering that identification is necessary to apply for Social Security, I seriously doubt that many elderly Americans don’t have any form of identification.

I also agree with the Democrats that there are many poor and marginalized communities that might find it difficult to get an ID. That is why these states offer Voter ID’s for free to those who qualify. However, considering how every entitlement program – food stamps, welfare, Medicaid, unemployment, etc – requires applicants to show an ID, it is a bit disingenuous to suggest that these people cannot  find a way to identify themselves.

In order to live in our society, you need to have ID. Without a form of photo ID, it is incredibly difficult to function or even survive. However, we do not need to focus on hypotheticals. We have actual data to look at…

Eric Holder is currently suing Texas over its voter ID law. Again, the logic is that it is discriminatory to the elderly and minorities and that it suppresses the vote. The data, however, proves exactly the opposite.

Every two years, Texas holds a referendum on proposed constitutional amendments. In 2011, Texas had an off-year election on a number of proposed changes to the state’s constitution. Being off-year, the turnout was not nearly as high as it would have been for a presidential or midterm election. With that said, an average of 672,874 Texans voted for each of the ten amendments under consideration in 2011.

(Since some constitutional amendments received more votes than others, we have chosen to take the average of all of the ballot measures under consideration.)

Now, mind you, this 2011 election was the last election before the Texas voter ID law was enforced. After 2011, Texans were forced to show identification before they were allowed to vote. So, if Eric Holder and the Democrats are right, we would expect to see a decrease in voter turnout…

Two years later, Texas held another referendum election, and voter participation increased by 63%! An average of 1,099,670 Texans voted for each of the 2013 constitutional amendments.

Protect our elections! Tell Congress to institute Voter ID laws nationwide!

Now, I know what you’re saying… Maybe an increase in Caucasian voters offset the decrease in minority voters… WRONG!

Hidalgo County sits along the Mexico border and has a population that is 90% Hispanic. In the 2011 election, just 4,000 residents turned out to vote. Two years later, when the voter ID law was in effect, over 16,000 ended up voting for ballot measures.

The suggestion that voter ID suppresses voter turnout has been completely disproven. As the Texas case study proves, forcing citizens to show an ID in order to vote does not discourage people from voting. In fact, it does exactly the opposite!

The United States needs secure elections. Instead of going after the people who are illegally voting, the Obama administration is targeting the states! This is absolutely backwards!

Congress must stop Eric Holder from vilifying voter ID requirements and Congress must take steps to protect our elections from individuals who seek to defraud the American people!

Protect our elections! Tell Congress to institute Voter ID laws nationwide!

Sincerely,

Joe Otto

Conservative Daily