IL RNHA Supports Amending Election Code to Require Voter ID

We've all heard the stories of the dead voting for JFK in the razor thin election of 1960. And we've heard stories since of phantom voters in Florida and Ohio and Milwaukee voting in multiple precincts. So what's so wrong with SB2496, requiring a voter to show a government issued photo ID before voting?

Well, opponents will say that the bill is trying to prevent people from voting. That's just asinine, because if there really is a group of legally registered voters that would be fearful of voting because they had to provide an ID, the difficulty isn't the requirement, but the fear. Are we as a people so willing to submit any portion of ourselves to fear that we won't stand for integrity and openness in our election process? And for those that may imply or outright cry racism we've moved past the days of Jim Crow and poll taxes - period.

What's more it's important to recognize that we already require photo ID's for actions that we as a community believe is important. We have licenses for driving, passports for international travel, and state photo ID's to purchase firearms, and that's a constitutionally protected right! Requiring a photo ID to vote does nothing to harm our principles as a great nation. Rather it ensures that one person has one vote, a precept that lies at the very heart of our democratic-republic. We strongly urge passage of SB2496.

***Statement written by John Guevara, Vice-President RNHA IL