Other Columns by Paul M. Weyrich
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Despite the fact that we were told that things went well in the 2004 elections, there was an unprecedented amount of voter fraud in various parts of the country. Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ.), the Chairman of the Republican Policy Committee and thus a member of the Senate leadership, has issued a paper entitled "Putting an End to Voter Fraud" and its suggestions are surely worth considering. The Help America Vote Act, which was supposed to take care of a number of problems in the American election system when it was enacted in 2002, may have made matters worse. In any case, the Act comes up for renewal shortly and there are changes which ought to be made.

First, Congress should require that voters show a photo ID at the polls. I have to show a photo ID at various stores. I even had to show a photo ID at a doctor's office. Senator Kyl says "without genuine, photographic identification, the avenues for manipulation and fraud by unscrupulous individuals will remain open to exploitation."

Second, Congress should examine the integrity of the voter registration process and the ongoing failure of states to maintain accurate voter lists. Senator Kyl points out that current federal laws governing registration list maintenance prevent local officials from taking a zero tolerance approach to voter fraud. In addition Kyl says that "Congress should make certain that non citizens are not illegally registering and voting: only Americans should decide the results of American elections."

Third, Congress should examine the extent to which early and absentee voting increases the likelihood of fraudulent votes being cast. The Arizona Senator said that an alternative voting system should have at least as many fraud protection safeguards as are available on Election Day. He calls on Congress to examine how states conduct early and absentee voting (to) determine whether legislation is necessary to protect voters against vote dilution through others' fraud.

Kyl, the Policy Committee Chairman, says that no election related legislation should proceed in this Congress unless these issues receive a through examination. I could not agree more.

The Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) was a bi-partisan effort drawn from the experiences in 2000, especially in Florida. HAVA requires that new voters who register by mail have to provide non photographic evidence of identity either when they register or when they first vote. HAVA requires that voters by mail affirm their American citizenship. HAVA requires that all new voters provide their driver's license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number. It is HAVA that requires states to have the so called "provisional ballot" which caused so many problems in Ohio and elsewhere in 2004. But with all of these requirements, there is still no photo ID required for new voters let alone for all voters on the rolls.

Senator Kyl points out that some senators have fought photo identification on the grounds that such ID presents an undo burden on minorities, the poor and the disabled. But, he said, they have never proven their claim. There is no doubt that some senators will fight any effort to have the identification requirement, even the relatively weak provisions of HAVA. They have agued in the past and will no doubt argue again that photo identification is a modern day poll tax. If it is true that minorities and the poor and disabled have no other photo ID and Congress does pass the ID requirement then it should signal local communities to provide for government issued photo identification.

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