The election process in this state is weak, unfair, and unclear; words that should not be associated with any government. This November, voters will have the option to change Minnesota’s election process by voting yes to the question: “Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to require all voters to present valid photo identification to vote and to require the state to provide free identification to eligible voters, effective July 1, 2013?”
If voters approve the amendment in this election, the government would provide free identification to everyone who is old enough to vote effective July 1, 2013. Every eligible voter’s identity would be protected, plus 100% of the costs of valid identifications would be cut. This way, no one will ever have to worry about whether their vote is truly being accounted for all it is worth.
There are already 34 states that require voters to show a form of identification before allowing them to vote. Since these states implemented the voter identification amendment, no cases of voter fraud have occurred. People opposed to this amendment are clearly forgetting that photo identification is a necessity when it comes to purchasing alcohol and flying commercial airlines. Because voting should be more important than these trivial activities, identification should also be used.
Some argue that very few cases of voter fraud occur, but after issues within the Franken-Coleman race in Minnesota in 2008, political groups began to study the discrepancies of possible voter fraud. Through these investigations, these groups have determined that 1,099 felons who voted in the Franken-Coleman race were in fact ineligible to vote. It is unfortunate that Minnesota didn’t obtain the opposed amendment back in 2008 and had to deal with the flaws in the election system at that time.
I am going to vote yes for the amendment, because I want my vote to be important and accounted for, and I want my identification to be protected. I am going to vote yes because electing the people who run our system of government is more important than buying alcohol or flying on airplanes. And finally, I am going to vote yes because I don’t want the words unclear, unfair, and weak to be associated in any way with the process of determining my government.
