Voting in the elections is a privilege for citizens of a democratic society, and it’s undoubtedly one of the most important activities an individual can partake in.
Unfortunately, many people think that we have a broken system that doesn’t allow everyone to be represented.
And voter ID laws have been one of the most hotly debated issues.
According to the National Conferences of State Legislatures, 34 states have laws related to voting and photo ID requirements. Among them, seven states including Kansas and Georgia have strict laws so that voters lacking such identifications can only cast provisional ballots.
Regarding this issue, Gallup recently did a survey and reported that nearly 80% of respondents were in favor of laws requiring photo IDs.
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Whereas supporters of a more strict voter-ID requirement argue that we need it to combat voter fraud, others believe that this would make it even more difficult for many people to vote.
When Gallup broke down the data, it found that many of the Republican respondents were in full support of mandatory photo IDs. Only a slight majority of the Democrats, on the other hand, supported such requirement.
Another big divide between respondents was about whether voter fraud posed a greater threat to the voting system than voter suppression.
Gallup reports that 52% of Republicans were more concerned with voter fraud, while only 26% of Democratic respondents were more concerned about it than with voter suppression.
This result could be because people believe that democratic party candidates get more support from the minorities. But, with such strict laws, minorities have a hard time getting registered to vote, which in turn affects the election results.
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Clearly, the standpoint regarding the requirement differs among people; however, no one can ignore the need to improve the voting system.
What do you think?
What kind of voter ID requirements be adopted throughout the states?
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