There has been a lot of national controversy about voter IDs. Some jurisdictions have passed laws requiring voters to identify themselves with picture IDs. Conservatives say this reduces election fraud. Liberals say it prevents the poor from voting. One proposal should satisfy both sides.
Picture IDs are already required for many transactions in the United States. For example, automobile drivers must have a driver's license with their picture. Picture IDs are required to take the GED, cash a check, and collect welfare benefits. Therefore, most people already have some type of government-issued picture ID.
Here in Kentucky, the lawallows for several types of voter identification, from picture IDs to the voter being a personal acquaintance of an election worker. However, since many jurisdictions allow no substitute for a picture ID, a solution must be found for people who cannot afford them or are unable to get to a local county clerk's office to have the them made.
How many people would need these IDs, and how could they be purchased for the truly poor? In Clark County, Kentucky, a four-year non-driver's photo ID costs $20. Clark County has a population of roughly 36,000 people; 24,375 are registered to vote. If 2/3 of the registered voters already have driver's licenses or non-driver photo IDs, about 8,000 people would still need picture IDs. Many could not afford to get them.
How could the IDs be made without forcing people who do not drive to come to the clerk's office? Digital cameras could be provided for each polling place. Voters could present appropriate IDs for voting, including Social Security cards, fill out a picture ID form, and then have their pictures taken. The process could be overseen by an election worker or by a designated volunteer. The camera would be hand-carried to the county clerk's office, and the photos would be uploaded to a machine that makes picture IDs. The picture ID cards could be saved by the clerk's office until the next election. People could pick up their IDs at the county clerk's office prior to the election or at at the voting precinct the next time they voted.
There is also another way these picture IDs could be made. Very inexpensive equipment is available that would allow picture IDs to be made at polling places. Bill Peck at IDWholesalerdescribes one photo-ID system with a base cost of $875. With additional upgrades to allow the apparatus to extract information from voter rolls and print it on the IDs, each system would cost less than $2000. Clark County has only 26 precincts, so the cost of equipment would be roughly $52,000. Plastic cards can be purchased with strips on the back for signatures; they cost about 10 cents more than plain plastic cards.
How could Clark County, a small rural county in Kentucky, manage to fund this system? Large businesses or private citizens could make tax-deductible donations to purchase the equipment. To minimize costs only registered voters with no picture IDs would be eligible for the program. Expired IDs would be the responsibility of the ID holder. Leftover funds, if any, could be reserved for future program needs.
Could little Clark County do this? Yes, it could. The voter ID problem could be solved without burdening either the taxpayer or the truly poor. And if Clark County, Kentucky could do it, then other counties nationwide could do it, too.
This was posted at Huffington Post's Off The Bus.