Although a strong majority of voters support laws requiring a photo ID in order to vote in elections, every Democrat and his dead neighbor seems to oppose such laws. Of course, standing one’s ground when principles are being attacked is admirable, even when the attacker is the majority. However, we are not a democracy, thank goodness, which means that the majority opinion does not always win. This is comforting given the fact that the majority are sometimes wrong. But in the case of voter IDs, the majority is most definitely not wrong. So why do Democrats oppose voter-ID laws?

I introduce to you a radical, left-wing group calling themselves The Advancement Project (if you oppose them, you oppose advancement). The group describes itself as a “multi-racial civil rights organization” whose purpose it is to help “organized communities of color dismantle and reform the unjust and inequitable policies that undermine the promise of democracy.” They view the voter-ID requirements as an affront to “racial justice.” They contend, as do their fellow liberals, that minorities and senior citizens are detrimentally affected by the requirement of a photo ID when voting because, er, blacks and old people…um…don’t have…photo IDs…? Well anyway, it’s something absurd like that.

Sometimes, in order to defend this position of theirs, the Democrats will do what is normally unspeakable for them: invoke the Constitution. See, the Twenty-fourth Amendment to the Constitution prohibits poll taxes, which is what Democrats insist an ID requirement to vote is because photo IDs cost money. One problem with this argument is that the Constitution, including it’s Twenty-fourth Amendment and the right to vote, only applies to United States citizens. Without a proper ID at the voting booth, where is the guarantee that a voter is a citizen? Here it becomes clear that the voting system as it stands is in need of substantial reform.

But let’s humor the Democrats on this poll-tax issue. Let’s say voter-ID laws are tantamount to poll taxes. Let’s also pretend that the institution of voter-ID laws reduces the voter-participation rates among minorities and seniors, despite the fact that every state that has instituted such laws has seen an increase in minority and senior voters. Why don’t they and groups like The Advancement Project redirect their efforts towards getting photo IDs for American citizens instead of trying to prevent a restoration of integrity to the voting system? And not just for the sake of voting; you can’t go through life, period, without an ID of some sort. If they insist that these laws are poll taxes, then let the states pay for the IDs. The federal government does not have the right to subsidize the obtainment of IDs, but states certainly do. And it wouldn’t cost much; based on the figures seen here, the average state ID seems to cost around $15. If the federal government has not only the “right” but the “moral obligation” to subsidize the sex lives of teenagers, surely the states can subsidize something as important as voting.