Voter identification is a good proposal

Two rules: Never go to bed angry and never write a newspaper column angry. I'm about to break that second rule.

I'm reading about the Senate bill approved in Missouri this week that would require Missouri voters to show a government-issued ID when they vote beginning in November. The bill was watered-down a bit to allow for provisional ballots for those who lack a photo ID. Those voters just need to present some form of identification - a utility bill for example - and have their signature matched against the one on file with election authorities.

But the Democrats in the Senate still claim that grand new phrase of the left - "disenfranchised." The Democrats even feel their voters may be confused by the new voting technology and adding a photo ID requirement might be too much to handle at once.

I'm getting sick and tired with the left wing of the Democratic party constantly moaning about some right wing attempt to keep their voters from the polls. It's a bogus argument that does nothing but help to bring division and hostility.

Let's clear the air right here and now. Not one single voter who is eligible to vote and who goes to the correct voting precinct is kept from voting in Missouri. It's a lie if anyone says otherwise.

But what is not a lie is the voter fraud in St. Louis. It was so bad that the federal government brought in officials to assure that the vote was legitimate, despite attempts by St. Louis Democrats to keep the polls open, to allow voters to cast a ballot darn near anywhere they wanted, etc. These are facts and this is exactly why the Missouri Senate is trying to clean up the process by requiring people to simply prove who they say they are.

In Sikeston and most other small towns, chances are one of the poll workers probably knows who you are. It may seem silly to some of us that we have to prove ourselves with a photo ID. But that's not the case in urban areas and that's where the fraud is most likely.

What the Democrats need to say is the truth. Many of their likely voters are too lazy to get an ID. They are not willing to take the time to register and arrive at the appropriate day and time and location. These voters want no rules to govern the voting in this state. And that opens the door to fraud.

The word disenfranchise - or actually disfranchise - means to deny someone the right to vote. Not one single aspect of this Senate bill would deny anyone, anything, anywhere at any time. It would simply assure all of us that eligible voters are the only ones casting a ballot.

I'm getting increasingly angry at the national Republican party for talking a conservative game but ignoring conservative values. But it doesn't compare with my anger at the Democratic party for sowing the seeds of division on phony issues for partisan reasons.