LETTER: Voter ID reasonable

Ken Barton, San Angelo

Voter ID

This is in response to not only Bob Hollway’s recent letter regarding voter ID, but also the comments posted online regarding the entire issue.

While I believe Holl-way may have gone a bit far in making his point, the basis of his point of view is still viable and accurate. The minimal cost involved is not prohibitive as it relates to abiding by a potential law requiring ID to vote.

The state charges $15 for an identification card that is valid for six years if you are under 60 and valid indefinitely if you are over 60. The Tom Green County Clerk’s office charges $23 for a certified copy of a birth certificate, which is the only document needed to obtain the ID card.

I realize some folks are facing tough times and every dollar counts, but everything worth anything comes at a price.

I ask everyone who is considering this issue to think about this: What price are the people of Iran paying right now to have a truly representative government? What price have the Iraqi people paid? Do you remember the purple fingers of pride thrust into the air?

More importantly, what price has been paid by our own forefathers and mothers to insure we have a right to vote? Is $2.50 a year too much to match their commitment to the democratic process? Would an amount of money that would buy one gallon of gas really be enough to disenfranchise those on the lower end of the income scale?

Whether there is actually substantial voter fraud is not the issue. We all see the potential for it and as the old saying goes, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Do we have to wait until the military is shooting people in the streets of Houston before we can announce there is a problem?

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