Reasonable voter ID law will help legitimize elections

Americans are used to showing identification for everything from writing a check -- remember those? -- to working out in the gym. Why, then, is it too much to ask that voters prove they are who they say they are before exercising the most basic American right, casting a vote?

That's the argument proponents like State Sen. Charlie Janssen are using to push laws like the Nebraska Voter ID law, which Janssen presented to the Legislature's Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee on Thursday.

Janssen is a gubernatorial candidate from Fremont, the Nebraska town that passed a controversial ordinance requiring landlords to check the immigration status of residents before renting them housing.

Parts of that ordinance have been ruled unconstitutional, and a similar voter ID law last year was filibustered to death, one state senator referring to it as "Jim Crow Lite."

This year's bill will probably meet the same fate as last year, if it makes it that far.

Opponents point out, correctly, that voter fraud is virtually non-existent, and proponents are more likely to be interested in reducing turnout for the opposite political party than ensuring a fair election.

Secretary of State John Gale stopped short of endorsing Janssen's bill, commending the senator for addressing the "issues of potential voter fraud" and calling the bill straight forward and constitutional, but calling for an interim study -- code for "thanks but no thanks."

"I think the bill has identification standards that are the strictest among the 33 states that have Voter ID, and may be stronger than Nebraska needs," Gale said.

Saying he recognized that a significant percentage of Nebraksans think some form of Voter ID is necessary to protect the integrity of the state's elections. "At the same time," Gale said, "since we have not experienced any systemic fraud in Nebraska, despite some occasional and isolated incidents. I'm not sure the strict standards of LB 381 and the costs involved are necesssarily the best answer for Nebraska."

It's true we need to encourage voting by informed citizens as much as possible. A reasonable voter ID law, however, is not too much to ask to remove any question of doubt about the legitimacy of those votes.