Letter to the Editor: Don’t loosen voting restrictions

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Senate Democrats plan to scrap the filibuster rule in order to ram through a voting-rights bill (House Resolution 1) to federalize national elections. I see their goal as outlawing state laws with provisions they oppose, such as voter ID requirements and restrictions on absentee ballots, which we are told suppress voting and “threaten our democracy.” Really?

In 2005, a commission headed by Jimmy Carter and James Baker, not exactly Republican zealots, proposed a uniform voter photo ID system and opined that absentee voting makes fraud more likely.

Polls indicate a strong majority of Americans concur, particularly that ID should be required.

There are 47 countries in Europe. Forty-six require voter ID. Thirty-five don’t allow absentee votes except for citizens living outside the country. Of the other 12, 10 require voters to appear in person with ID to be issued an absentee ballot. Several countries allow proxy voting but only under very limited conditions.

Our neighbors don’t seem to favor liberal voting rules either. A Canadian without photo ID is only given a ballot if a poll worker can prove his/her identity. Citizens of Mexico are tired of election fraud and now require in-person voting with a photo ID card.

Voting rules in the U.S. already are less restrictive than those in other democracies. Democrat leadership insists ours must be further loosened. What’s wrong with this picture?

Ron Wohlust

Dagsboro

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