With Joe Biden equating Voter ID Laws to ‘Jim Crow’ laws, we decided to take a more detailed look into the issue.
A recent study on voter ID laws and how they impact elections was recently conducted by Harvard University Professor Vincent Pons (he co-authored the study with Enrico Cantoni from the University of Bologna) and published in February 2019.
As it turns out, both Republicans and Democrats will be disappointed with the study results.
Debunking the Democrat Myth
Biden and the rest of the Democrats continue to pitch the idea that voter ID laws are a major obstacle in allowing minorities to get to the polling stations.
According to the study, that is 100 percent false.
Pons stated, “We find that fears that strict ID requirements would disenfranchise ethnic minorities and other disadvantaged populations have not materialized.
“We do not find any significant effect of the laws on registration or turnout, overall or for any group of voters defined by race, gender, age, or party affiliation.”
Election Integrity
On the Republican side, voter ID laws are wanted to protect the integrity of the election.
To this point, Pons stated states that have laws have not seen a significant trend one way or the other on this point, either.
Pons stated, “Contrary to the argument used by the Supreme Court in the 2008 case Crawford v. Marion County to uphold the constitutionality of one of the early strict ID laws, we find no significant impact on fraud or public confidence in election integrity.”
So, what is the purpose of the laws if the touts by neither side are factually accurate, at least according to the study?
While I absolutely understand the statement, I would continue to make the argument this is a safeguard that is in fact needed.
If there is a barrier on the highway protecting cars from plummeting into a river but if it is never used, is it still needed?
Do you want to be the person to find out once it is removed?
If voter ID laws are in fact NOT deterring minorities from getting to the polls, is it not better to have a measure in place to ensure voters are who they say they are than not to?
While voter fraud may not be as widespread as we are sometimes led to believe, it absolutely exists.
Voter ID laws prevent individuals with nefarious intent from even being able to penetrate elections, so why not have them in place?
If you want to make the argument IDs are too costly, then provide them free. Every state has the ability to remove the financial burden on obtaining a license or a state ID, so do it.
If you are worried about accessibility, create a traveling ID center that can go to the residents.
In this day and age, is it really too much to ask for an adult to take a few hours one day out of every four or five years to obtain a valid ID?
I, for one, would feel much better about voter ID laws being in place to protect the integrity of our elections now and in the future, especially with the massive influx of illegal immigration we have seen over the last few months.
It is just a shame Democrats in office and liberals are using race to create a movement against legislation that many Americans believe is badly needed.
Source: Harvard Business School / Strict ID Laws Don’t Stop Voters: Evidence from a U.S. Nationwide Panel, 2008–2016.
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