The new voter ID bill has taken the back burner with all the protests on the budget repair bill. The bill would require voters to show a photo ID in order to cast a ballot. It's not just any form of identification that is being required.
As of a few weeks ago, voters would need to have a Wisconsin driver's license, a Wisconsin ID issued by the Department of Transportation or a military ID.
Recently, there have been amendments to the bill. Now passports, tribal IDs and naturalization papers are included as acceptable forms of ID. Yes, I do think this is a big improvement to the bill, but I don't think it's enough.
The worst part is that the new bill does not include student IDs. For students, especially those from out of state, this is a huge problem. Some students on campus do not have these other forms of ID. So what are their options? The response to this is to have government-issued IDs available for sale for those people who want to and can vote, but don't have those forms of identification.
To be blunt, this is absurd. First of all, it is completely unconstitutional. You cannot make people pay for the right to vote. Since this is the case, the government will be forced to give out these IDs for free. This is where I really have a problem.
We all know that Gov. Scott Walker is all about cutting the budget and getting us out from under this pile of debt. He created the Budget Repair Bill, but now he and other Republicans wants to pass this Voter ID bill, which will once again waste the taxpayers' money. The costs of this bill will range anywhere from $2.5 to $10 million. This seems like a step backwards from the rigid budget cuts Walker's political platform is all about.
I do not understand how he can justify the budget repair bill and then want the voter ID to pass; it isn't a pressing matter to begin with. The bill is supposed to prevent voter fraud, but there is scant evidence to justify it. You already need to have proof of residence ,and you still have to register before voting. There is also little evidence suggesting that this bill will fix these alleged problems, if they even exist.
I for one cannot follow the line of thinking that our current government is on. It disenfranchises voters and costs more to do it. They preach about cutting funds everywhere and then they turn around and spend millions on a bill that isn't an extremely pressing matter. Our government needs to take a step back and seriously think about the long run implications of some of the things it is implementing. Representing a state that has always had a great voter turnout number, they are really discouraging the public from voting.
Nick Fritz is a sophomore majoring in marketing. We welcome all feedback. Please send responses to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
