National ID Cards

Being a conservative I am supposed to be against national ID cards. But I am not sure I am. Maybe, but not sure.

The reason I say this is that I am certified as an Election Judge here in Texas so I know how the election rules are applied. The argument for national ID cards is that they will clean up the elections. It will be harder for people to stack the cards, have dead people vote, vote multiple times at different precincts. All of these can be a problem as the recent case in Houston where it was found that 24,000 voters were registered either multiple times, or dead, or whatever. They were not qualified voters for what ever reason.

A national ID with your picture on it might stem the tide of voter fraud. If the risk of Big Brother or a nation run by dead voters was at stake, I would take the risk that the government might use the cards incorrectly. But I dont think that is the choice.

In Texas if a voter presents anything but a valid registration that is on the list before the clerk, his/her vote will be taken, but NOT counted. You can actually vote by just showing your drivers license of even just a piece of mail with your home address on it, like an electric bill. These votes are put aside until after the known valid votes are counted. If the race is so close that the number of contested ballots could change the results, then the contested ballots are counted. But they are not blindly counted, they are examined closely and where they can be verified as legitimate voters, they are counted.

So people that vote multiple times or that are dead are not counted...even though they were allowed to vote at the polls. It is far to difficult to examine every contested voter at the voting place. But that doesnt mean that they are NOT examined before the vote is counted.

So the need for a national ID, at least for voting is not that great...at least, not in Texas.

However something that has bugged me for years is the way hunters, fishermen, taxpayers, and drivers are treated across the nation. If I have paid taxes in one state on a new boat, it is credited to me as having been paid if I move it to another state. So if I have paid for a fishing license in one state, it should be valid in another state. After all, I can not be fishing in two states at the same time! The same goes for a hunting license, or a drivers license. In the case of the drivers license, it IS considered valid in all states, why not fishing and hunting licenses? A national fishing license, hunting license, drivers license all would be incorporated into a national ID.

One argument against a national ID is that it might offend some religious beliefs if it had a picture on it. But that argument just doesnt fly. We wont let a Muslim woman walk into a bank with her face hidden...after all it could be a man with an AK47 under the dress!!! And that offends the Muslim community. The Amish community is offended by having their picture taken, But isn't access to banking services more important that access to hunting or fishing.

Why not have a national ID with no photographs, but maybe a retina scan, or a finger print?

Jim Isbell
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