Posted on by Californiacontrarian

Common Sense

I read two things yesterday which made me think, “Do we have an epidemic in the U.S.A.? Is there an epidemic of “a loss of common sense?

The first thing that I read was a recent report by the Pew Center, which is a nonpartisan think tank that informs the public about issues, attitudes, and trends shaping America and the world. The Pew Center is not some “right-wing wacko group,” and therefore the report should have credibility with everyone. Their report had to do with voter registration. It stated that about 24 million (approximately 1 of 8) voter registrations in the U.S. are no longer valid or have significant inaccuracies. Furthermore about 1.8 million deceased voters are listed as voters, and about 2.75 million voters have registrations in more than one state. Does this mean that that there are a lot of illegal votes in our elections? . . . “No, not necessarily.” Does his mean that there is the potential for a lot of illegal voting in our elections? . . . “Yes, without a doubt!”

The second thing that I read yesterday involves a case now being heard by the Supreme Court about an Ohio law that removes people from the voting registration rolls if they fail to vote in two consecutive elections and they do not return an address conformation form. In light of the recent Pew Report about the significant issues with voter registration, I initially thought that this “Use It or Lose It” Ohio law made a lot of sense, especially in cities like Detroit and Chicago where the number of ballots cast in certain precincts mysteriously seems to often be more than the number of live voters living in that precinct.
However, my thinking was altered after I read about the plight of a soldier who had been stationed in an isolated area outside the continental U.S. for two years. He had maintained Ohio as his home state of record. He did not vote in two consecutive elections and he obviously could not return the address confirmation card because he was not physically present in Ohio. Is it right that this soldier be disenfranchised, and not be allowed to vote when he returns to Ohio? I say, “No, that is not right.”

What to do? I do not want to have an American in the military be denied his vote, but on the other hand, I do not want my vote cancelled out by the vote of a dead person.
It seems that we have a dilemma!
I have a novel idea . . . “How about if we use some common sense ?”
What if we were to use government-issued photo ID voter registration cards? What if we were to further supplement these voter ID cards with a thumb print to insure against their fraudulent use? What if we were to make the penalty for fraudulent use of these voter ID cards very severe? In other words, why don’t we make our voting process as secure as it is in Mexico?! As an aside, in Canada one has three options to prove that he/she is a legal eligible voter, and all three involve a photo I.D.
Both Canada and Mexico use common sense in their voting processes. Why can’t the U.S. also use common sense ?

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