Photo ID for voting makes good sense

To the editor:

Regarding the Feb. 24 op-ed column ("Don't put Missouri seniors' right to vote at risk") by Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan: Early in the piece, she mentions that "voters are already required to identify themselves at the polls with a drivers license, ... voter registration card, a university ID and other forms of identification before being handed a ballot." She apparently is in favor of this current provision in election law. She points out that proposed legislation would require "a photo ID, or a license to vote." Yet she is against this proposal.

I would hope she realizes that the current Missouri driver's license and university IDs both have photos on them already. So she must be of the opinion that the fact that the voter registration card or other forms with no photo ID are OK to use to vote. So what is to keep anyone from forging one of these pieces of non-photo ID or simply passing them off to another person to vote on his behalf? Nothing. If every retail outlet and airline in America require some type of photo ID before they take a check or credit card or issue a ticket, and there has not been rioting in the streets as a result, it seems that a photo ID requirement would be the absolute minimum that the nation should require before allowing someone to cast a vote that will determine the future direction of our democracy.

KURT WITZEL, Oakville, Mo.