Missouri fraud illuminates ID need

Few issues for the American public are as important as the right to vote. And yet few issues are as divisive and as polarizing between the two major political parties as the process of voting.

The controversial debate over voter IDs is part of the national dialogue, especially now, given the virtually even divide on just about every political issue under the sun.

Democrats have long argued that imposing voter ID laws will "disenfranchise" minority and elderly voters and equal the Jim Crow laws of a bygone era.

Republicans argue that the simple implementation of voter IDs is an important step to assure the integrity of the voting process. Democrats counter that there is little to no evidence of widespread voter fraud, and, thus, the IDs are just an attempt by the GOP to limit the voting rights of certain voters.

But don't be fooled. There is, in fact, ample evidence that potential fraud and voting abuse is the dirty little secret of the electoral process.

And that fraud took center stage in Missouri recently.

Four people have been charged with felonies over fraudulent signatures on a Democrat-backed proposal to allow early voting in Missouri.

A Democrat-funded drive to collect signatures that would put the issue of early voting on the ballot in Missouri ran into legal trouble when thousands of forged signatures were submitted.

Names of deceased voters were submitted in Missouri primarily because those hired to collect the signatures were awarded bonuses for the number of names submitted.

In Boone County alone, more than 1,000 bogus signatures were submitted.

But the investigation uncovered fraud in dozens of Missouri counties. All of those charged with the fraud were listed as homeless.

The comparison to forging signatures on a ballot initiative and fraudulent voting is not apples to apples.

Yet it illustrates that there are those who would fraudulently "game" the system to their benefit for a variety of reasons.

If election officials can uncover thousands of bogus names on a petition measure, then it's reasonable to assume that those same individuals would willingly commit fraud in the election process itself.

Democrats can argue as long as they like about the "disenfranchisement" of "their" voters. But the reality is that there are those among us who would readily cheat the election process for either personal or political gain.

If thousands of bogus names can be uncovered in Missouri, can you just imagine the potential for electoral fraud in urban centers like Chicago?

Yet in the face of this shameful and illegal activity, the Democrats will always complain that somehow they are being cheated.

The time for mandatory national voter IDs is now. And no partisan argument will change that sad reality.

Michael Jensen is the publisher of the Sikeston Standard Democrat.