Oklahomans don't need new barriers to voting

The Norman Transcript

May 10, 2008 12:24 am

— Oklahomans don't seem to have much trouble voting. Our system has worked well for many years and the precinct workers get to know the voters.
That's why we shed no tears last week when the Oklahoma State Senate voted against a voter identification bill. If passed, SB 1150 would have required Oklahomans to provide proof of identity in order to vote.
It comes as the U.S. Supreme Court upheld an Indiana law requiring some form of voter ID. In Indiana this past week, news reports surfaced of voters being turned away.
They included elderly nuns, a college student with an out-of-state driver's license and a newly married woman whose new name did not match the name on her registration.
Not everyone has a photo identification issued by a government agency. Those who do not drive or travel through airports, the elderly, poor and disabled would be most disenfranchised by such legislation.
Such requirements build too much discretion into the voting process. In a mobile society, many of us have incorrect addresses on our photo identification.
Incidents of election fraud do not normally come at the polls. They occur more in registration and absentee voting matters. The ID law would create more obstacles for people to vote at a time when we have record turnouts of people signing up.