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Congress and the states were all hung up prior to the 2004 elections about voting machines. Jill Farrell of the Free Congress Foundation graded every state as to its worthiness in being prepared for the elections. Yet who voted seemed far less a consideration.

There is actually an attempt, S.17, on the part of some liberals to rid the system of any identification whatsoever, let alone adding on a photo ID. Congress surely is not going to reverse what little progress under HAVA has occurred. Rather Congress needs to add to that progress. It is never fashionable around this town to question motives, but exactly why, if you were concerned with the integrity of the voting system, would you advocate repeal of the current modest requirements? Could it be that some senators find the encouragement of voter fraud to be to their advantage or at least the advantage of their party? I spoke with one of the lawyers who was assigned to the Indian reservation in South Dakota which miraculously produced the winning margin of victory for Sen. Tim Johnson in 2002. There were enough GOP lawyers watching the process in 2004 that probably the vote in 2004 was honest. Surprise, Thune won this time. Still, it isn't possible to have lawyers in every questionable precinct.

Photo IDs aren't perfect. We require them for all sorts of transactions and yet there is fraud. But at least they would cut down on fraud as much as is humanly possible.

While they are at it, Congress, in considering changes to HAVA should examine the so called "motor voter" system. This same day registration prevents the regulating authority from checking for proper addresses, for example. Far too little follow up is done in the post election period to determine just how honest the "motor voter" system really is. In fact, we don't have a good handle on the integrity of our voter registration lists.

Congress has enough time now, if it starts the process immediately, to do proper oversight and to get it right. Senator Kyl is to be commended for taking this initiative. It behooves his colleagues to take seriously what he has done.

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Paul M. Weyrich is Chairman and CEO of the Free Congress Foundation.

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Note -- The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, and/or philosophy of GOPUSA.

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