It Makes Sense In Mexico, But Not America?
Mexico held an election yesterday and, unlike the
United States, they required photo ID of voters.
This came up over the weekend as we were
having dinner with a friend who used to live in Mexico, married to a Mexican national. The place we had dinner in is owned by a
young man and his wife and she’s from Mexico. She expressed surprise that in America you don’t have to show ID to
vote. In Oregon and Washington you can, but in
Mexico, voters must show identification and it’s checked against a registry at
the polling place that includes a photo of the voter.
In America, a president who has had his own
problems with identification and citizenship questions, has ordered his justice
department to fight states who want to identify voters. Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder say
making Americans show ID would discriminate against the poor. Our friend’s comment, the poorest people in a country like Mexico can show ID to vote, but poor people in America can’t
afford it.
Like a lot of things coming
out of Washington D.C. these days, it doesn't make much sense.