Compromise With Vote Fraud Deniers Yields … Nothing

Compromise With Vote Fraud Deniers Yields … Nothing

Governor Bob McDonnell’s signing of the Virginia voter ID bill yields a valuable lesson for Republicans working on voter integrity measures in the future: compromise cannot purchase peace from voter fraud deniers.

McDonnell signed an extraordinarily timid voter ID bill last week and then ordered the state board of elections to mail voter cards to every voter. The cards, which do NOT contain photo identification, can be used in the polls instead of a photo ID. In other words, anyone who obtains one of the cards can still vote in the name of a dead voter. Consider the actions of Lafayette Keaton in Oregon for an example of how this could work. Keaton is not the only person to have voted in the name of the dead. But mailing of the cards eliminates the argument that some voters will not have ID to use on election day, except it really doesn’t.  

See, rational people presume mailing new cards to every voter solves the problem.