Voting Fixes

WaPo reported Warning that public confidence in the nation's election system is flagging, a commission headed by former president Jimmy Carter and former secretary of state James A. Baker III today will call for significant changes in how Americans vote, including photo IDs for all voters

I am shocked that Carter's commission recommended photo IDs for all voters, because most Dems are opposed to them, because they know that will make voter fraud much more difficult, but I completely support the idea of Photo IDs to vote, so we need to encourage immediate adoption of this recommendation.

, verifiable paper trails for electronic voting machines

I agree for this as well

and impartial administration of elections.

Not sure what this means, since I would have thought that was a given.

The report concludes that, despite changes required under the Help America Vote Act of 2002, far more must be done to restore integrity to an election system that suffers from sloppy management, treats voters differently not only from state to state but also within states, and that too often frustrates rather than encourages voters' efforts to participate in what is considered a basic American right.

The most controversial recommendation calls for all voters to produce a standard photo identification card before being allowed to vote. The commission proposes that, by 2010, voters be required to use either the Real ID card, which Congress this spring mandated as the driver's license of the future in all states. For about 12 percent of eligible voters who do not have a driver's license, the commission says states should provide at no cost an identification card that contains the same key information.

I agree. I don't mind some small fee be charged for the card, with perhaps a special case being made for the poor, as I blogged about earlier in Georgia.

Critics of voter ID cards say the requirement could raise privacy issues and intimidate or discourage some Americans, particularly the elderly, the poor and minorities, from participating in elections. To alleviate those concerns, the Carter-Baker commission urges states to make it easy for non-drivers to obtain such cards and seeks measures to ensure privacy and security for all voters. The commission report states that by adopting a uniform voter ID card, minorities would be better protected from shifting identification standards at individual polling places.

Still, the proposed ID card drew sharp dissent from some commissioners, among them former Senate Democratic leader Thomas A. Daschle (S.D.). In a dissent joined by two other commissioners, Daschle likened the ID to a "modern day poll tax."

Shakespeare's Sister blogged There’s some controversy about the proposed ID requirement, but considering that Congress has already approved legislation to “standardize driver’s licenses in all 50 states” (read: compel national ID cards), I don’t know that it makes a hell of a lot of difference. Except, perhaps, delaying those barcodes on our plebeian foreheads for another couple of years, which has to be a good thing, right?