Letters to the Editor: If voter ID laws are implemented nationwide, we have to do it right

To the editor: Regarding columnist Jonah Goldberg’s piece on voter ID, there are so many concerns (“Voter ID shouldn’t be this controversial,” Feb. 10). How would these requirements be implemented? Would there be a national procedure or would each state have its own? How would it affect mail-in ballots? What about states that don’t have readily available DMV offices in all areas? Voter ID requirements are ripe for misuse. That is one thing Republicans never address, never mind that in-person fraud is so low that it can barely be calculated.

The right’s preoccupation with voter ID is rooted in voter suppression. Want proof? Several red states, including Florida, have imposed huge fines for even minor mistakes in voter registration drives. President Trump has linked increased voting with Republicans losing. There are countless stories of people in majority nonwhite areas in red states having to wait in line far longer than those in predominantly white areas, although that’s a different sort of voter suppression.

I can support voter ID if it is done in a fair way. Either a national ID or a state ID that cannot be changed as the voter ID. Also, for anyone who doesn’t have a paper copy of their birth certificate or the means to go to an office, the government must provide the services to get the ID at the government’s cost. Otherwise, this is just a new version of the poll tax.

If voter ID requirements are passed, there must be at least a four-year window for the government to allow everyone to get their ID before the measures are implemented. The Constitution guarantees the right to vote. If the government puts in obstacles, it must provide the means to remedy them.

Mike Lorraine, Simi Valley

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To the editor: I appreciated Goldberg’s balanced take on voter ID. This seems to be a perennial issue that is politically motivated at its base, regardless of the side of the aisle you stand on.

Goldberg notes a few significant instances (besides voting) when proof of identification is required. I would expand his list with these: medical care, cashing or withdrawing large amounts of money, wire transfers, airport security, hotel check-ins, car rentals, court appearances, buying alcohol or cigarettes, starting a new job, registering a child for school and even entering some city buildings.

This is far from a complete list, but if it’s true that huge numbers of marginalized people don’t have sufficient ID to vote, then they must be missing out on an even broader range of personal, financial and civic activities that are central and critical to life in California.

Diane Graham, Santa Barbara

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To the editor: To make voter IDs fair and workable, we need a national ID.

Many countries in the world have mandatory national IDs and it does simplify life. They are used for elections and do not seem to encroach on freedom any more than a driver’s license or a passport. But we have a tendency to see things in isolation.

If we want to go to a national ID system to strengthen elections, there will need to be ways to help ease the transition: agents visiting homebound people who vote by mail, many easy access points of distribution and whatever we need to do to make sure it is all free.

So if we are going to do it, let’s do it honestly, without the hidden agenda of suppressing votes, and let’s fund the effort correctly. If not, then it really is only a gimmick to curtail our rights and freedoms.

Marie Matthews, San Pedro

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To the editor: The No. 1 worry that thieves have is other thieves stealing from them. So we may want to interrogate the president’s big concern with fraudulent voting, despite the absence of evidence that the 2020 election was stolen.

I’m one of those who see presenting identification at the polling booth as a cure for a nonexistent illness. But I’m willing to compromise. I will present my ID at the polling booth if the president ceases his attempts to interfere with the ability to mail in our ballots.

Jeffrey Teets, Lakewood

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To the editor: It is time to end the charade about voter identification. Since there is so much (misplaced) concern about non-citizens voting, and it is obvious that proving citizenship is not nearly as easy as it could be, why not mount a voter integrity campaign with a practical solution?

The Postal Service already visits every part of the nation. It, or some other taxpayer-supported agency, could easily send bookmobile-like vans around the country to visit neighborhoods everywhere to expedite the free processing of whatever paperwork might be required to establish identification. A birth certificate, passport, or whatever — let’s make that an official public project.

It can cost hundreds of dollars or more for an individual to track down legal evidence of one’s voter eligibility, especially for those who never doubted their status. This may take a couple years, but if that is not absolutely a reasonable use of public funds, then whatever would be?

Harmon Sieff, Encino

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To the editor: Goldberg believes American citizens need a national ID card. Maybe so, here in the 21st century.

Still, to the demand “where’s your ID?,” I remember the response of the title character (played by Kirk Douglas in the movie) in “The Brave Cowboy,” Edward Abbey’s 1956 novel: “My what? … Don’t have none. Don’t need none. I already know who I am.”

Bob Wieting, Simi Valley