What Makes Voter ID Different From Any Other ID?

by Raynard Jackson

How many of you fly on airplanes or frequent government buildings?  If you do, you know you must show some type of government I.D. to get on a plane or enter into a government building.

To my knowledge, I have never heard anyone claim they were discriminated against if they were not allowed to fly or enter a government building because they didn’t have an I.D.  To the contrary, people know the rules in advance, so therefore they comply.

I don’t know anyone (young or old, Black or White) who doesn’t have any form of government sanctioned I.D. (driver’s license, passport, etc.).

Even grandma, who is retired and needs to cash her check, has some form of government I.D.

I think most of us can agree that it is a good thing to make people provide “legitimate” I.D. before getting on a plane or entering into a government building, or cashing a check. I don’t think many people would consider this an intrusion or inconvenience.  There is a safety component to this requirement that helps protect everyone.

So, to ensure the safety of the general public, the government has mandated these requirements in order to participate in certain activities. Can one argue that if one doesn’t have these forms of government I.D. that they have been discriminated against?  Secondly, if one doesn’t have any form of I.D., should the government be obligated to pay the cost to get them?

Again, I challenge readers to identify one person that they know personally that doesn’t have some form of government I.D.

If you agree with me that the government’s requirement that one have “legitimate” government I.D. to get on a plane or into a government building, how can you then argue that to require the same in order to vote in political elections is discriminatory against the poor and minorities?

Poor people fly on airplanes and enter into government buildings like everyone else.

These are the absurd arguments being made by the radical liberals like Al Sharpton, Ben Jealous, and radical liberal organizations like the N.A.A.C.P., the Congressional Black Caucus, etc. If it’s racist to require I.D. for people to vote, then it must be racist to require I.D. to board a plane or enter a government building.

Liberals never want to match a government program with any type of individual responsibility.  They constantly argue the extreme.  They claim minorities are adversely affected by requiring I.D. in order to vote.  According to them, the poor can’t afford the cost to pay for proper I.D.  They argue that grandma doesn’t have her original birth certificate; therefore it is much harder for her to get her I.D.

If the laws only applied to minorities or the poor, then I would agree with the liberals; but the law applies equally to rich and poor, Black and White.

Why do liberals constantly argue that if something is difficult or that you are required to actually do something in order to get a benefit, it somehow is discriminatory? Again, I challenge readers to name me one person they know personally who doesn’t have a government I.D.

Those who may not have a government I.D. are statistically negligible.  So, to make policy based on the exception is crazy.  It is not difficult to get a government I.D. and to argue differently is simply not the plain truth.

Raynard Jackson, a conservative commentator, is President and CEO of Raynard Jackson & Associates, Inc.- a government relations and political consulting firm in Washington, D.C. He has a proven record of balancing public policy with fundamental freedoms associated with a free-market, capitalistic society

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3 Responses to What Makes Voter ID Different From Any Other ID?

1. Wm_Tucker says:

   6:16am December 20, 2011 at 6:16 am

   The basic conflict posed by recent voter ID laws is they're written in a way that strips currently registered voters of the right to vote without first satisfying due process or strict scrutiny, thereby violating the 14th Amendment.

   Reply
2. @Amaliada says:

   2:56pm December 20, 2011 at 2:56 pm

   Sorry, my 98 year old, white Mother-in-law has been voting since she was 21 or 1935. She has never owned a car and only used credit cards at department stores until her 90th birthday when she quit her last job as a food demonstrator in a grocery chain. If there was widespread voter fraud taking place at the polls, with the exception of the voting machines, I might buy this poll tax 2.0.

   Reply
3. burntoffering says:

   12:41am December 21, 2011 at 12:41 am

   What makes voter ID different from other ID is that voter ID is not accept ID. Rev. Al just had a couple on tonight. Two White people in their 40-50s both had problems such as, He had to have a Certified Birth Certificate, I Iowa drivers licenses wasnt good enough, nor his pay stub, credit card etc. The lady drove 45 minutes to the DMV and called before she went asking for what was needed, and Yet everything she had wasnt good enough. Now you know if they hada been black well they would have had to at least shown their crack. What's worst than than are those people in Ohio, I think whose Governor appointed a Special Overseer and some folks that completely regarded their votes and the peop0le who were elected like the Mayor….What kind of franckenacle bulllll is dat?

   Reply