At the legislative coffee on Jan. 21 and as reported in Monday’s Newton Daily News, Sen. Chaz Allen and Rep. Wes Breckenridge failed to inform the public of their position on voter identification (voter ID). Sen. Allen merely stated that he understands the issue but has not been shown evidence of voter fraud. Rep. Breckenridge took the middle ground by agreeing with Sen. Allen and stated there is a lack of evidence of voter fraud in Iowa.
However, a quick Google search of “cases of voter fraud in Iowa” will show there is voter fraud in Iowa. There has been approximately 23 convictions of voter fraud in the last five years. This statistic does not include the people who did not get caught, the people whose misconduct was caught but no charges filed, or cases still pending.
This issue has been around long enough that our state representatives should take a position one way or another. One must ask the rhetorical question: “If identification is used for so many daily activities, why should it not be required for one of our most important rights — the right to vote?” Any fraudulent vote diminishes the value of legitimate votes.
Patrick Payton
Newton