BY JB VAN HOLLEN | Posted: Monday, May 19, 2008 12:00 am
There is nothing more fundamental in our democracy than the right to vote. This primary tenet of political freedom, however, is undermined when people engage in unlawful voting or unqualified electors cast ballots illegally and undetected.
The ballots cast by law abiding citizens are diminished when fraudulent actors take advantage of Wisconsin's open election laws. Justifiably, public confidence in our elections plummets under the weight of this illegal activity.
At the conclusion of the 2004 general elections, media in the Milwaukee area reported discrepancies in recorded and certified election results. The Milwaukee Police Department opened an investigation into this voter fraud in Milwaukee County.
Recently, the Police Department issued their report and their findings are unsettling. Felons voted, fraudulent addresses were used to register and double voting and deceased people casting ballots are reported in the investigation's results.
As I have long advocated, among the recommendations submitted by the special investigations unit to curb voter fraud is the presentation of photo identification by voters at the polling place.
Since the 2000 election, many legislators have sought to restore Wisconsin's election integrity by introducing legislation requiring all voters to present photo identification at polling places. Most recently, Senator Joe Leibham and Representative Jeff Stone have sought to pass a resolution that would allow voters to vote on a constitutional amendment requiring voter identification.
Their carefully researched language would utilize a standardized, state-issued photo identification that voters would be required to present at the polling place before voting. This allows clear, visual confirmation of the person seeking to vote, lessens the complications related to same-day voter registration and reaffirms our commitment to one person one vote.
Opponents of this simple requirement to diminish voter fraud have been vocal. Many claim this requirement of simple identification to participate in a citizen's most valued act as too burdensome, as an effort to "suppress votes" and finally as unconstitutional.
Just recently these arguments were silenced by the Supreme Court of the United States.
In Crawford v. Marion County Election Board, a case brought in opposition to Indiana's voter identification law, the Court upheld the state's ability to require the identification. The Court ruled that the law is constitutional because its overall burden is "minimal and justified" and it serves a legitimate state interest in deterring and detecting fraud.
Under Wisconsin's current law, as the Milwaukee Police Department's investigation and report demonstrate, the opportunity is there for those seeking to commit voter fraud. As the state's chief law enforcement official, I can tell you that the current system frustrates authorities' ability to detect and prosecute these acts.
To be sure, laws should make voting easy. But laws should not make illegal voting easy. Voter identification is common sense. It will help to secure fair elections and allow us in law enforcement to protect the very principles our democratic system is based upon. We have an obligation to ourselves as a democratic society to make certain our election system is fair and legal.
Voter identification is the first step in restoring integrity to Wisconsin's election system.
Van Hollen is Wisconsin's attorney general.