Voter ID: “What’s the Big Deal?”

California’s Daily Press.

“Is there widespread voter fraud, here in California or across the country? No. Is there any voter fraud at all? Of course.

Backers of voter identification laws — which pretty much always center on identification cards with a photo of the bearer — are mostly conservatives. Those opposed? Liberals, of course. . . .


We agree with the conservatives mostly, but we don’t think their arguments go far enough. When they point out how often photo identification is required for so many activities, they assume everyone knows why this is so. But apparently not everyone does.


If you’re attempting to cash a check, say at a super market, it’s a dead solid certainty that you’ll be asked for photo identification before getting approval. Why is that? Because there are a certain number of people fully prepared to commit fraud so they can get the check cashed. The owner of the market is simply trying to cut down on the number of checks he cashes that come back marked “insufficient funds,” inflicting financial losses on his business.”

Voter ID: “What’s the Big Deal?”

California’s Daily Press.

“Is there widespread voter fraud, here in California or across the country? No. Is there any voter fraud at all? Of course.

Backers of voter identification laws — which pretty much always center on identification cards with a photo of the bearer — are mostly conservatives. Those opposed? Liberals, of course. . . .


We agree with the conservatives mostly, but we don’t think their arguments go far enough. When they point out how often photo identification is required for so many activities, they assume everyone knows why this is so. But apparently not everyone does.


If you’re attempting to cash a check, say at a super market, it’s a dead solid certainty that you’ll be asked for photo identification before getting approval. Why is that? Because there are a certain number of people fully prepared to commit fraud so they can get the check cashed. The owner of the market is simply trying to cut down on the number of checks he cashes that come back marked “insufficient funds,” inflicting financial losses on his business.”