commentaries

1) What form of government issued ID proves you are who you say you are, live where you say you live, are a US citizen, and are not a felon who has their voting rights removed? Answer: NONE.

2) Photo ID ONLY addresses impersonation fraud. It does not stop the most common, incredibly rare form of voter fraud - felons forgetting they don't have the right to vote.

3) Why would anyone risk $10,000 fine and 5 years in jail just to cast a second ballot, no matter how small the risk? In order for enough fraudulent votes to occur to swing an election, depending on the election, between thousands and millions of people would have to be willing to do so. Massive recruiting efforts required. And no one has gone to the press EVER reporting being recruited to vote illegally.

4) Voter ID does not stop non-US citizens (eg "illegals") from voting. Non-citizens can get a Drivers License for instance (which doesn't answer #1 either.)

5) This will cost tens of millions to set up and millions to use in each election in MN alone. Small towns won't be able to afford the cost, voting will be done in less places, farther than many people will be able to travel.

Our Constitution should not have a technology specified within it. Undoubtedly within a few years a paper ID will be obsolete.

I can imagine a smart phone being used as a thumbprint reader for instance. And there are technologies coming we can't even imagine.

The Courts continue to strike down Voter ID laws for good reason. Voter ID is a solution attempting to solve the problem that too many people vote Democratic.

Wow, when you get paid handsomely to take a stand you could almost feel he believes what he was talking about....but not quite. He is asking Minnesotans to vote for a blank check for the GOP congress. As the person coming to my door to promote Wardlow said....real quote "it is really about not having too many votes in Minneapolis and St Paul". Seriously, I kicked her off my yard. However, I can see a real good business coming; since they want to go back to 80's technology with a card based system and since the fake ID industry has boomed with newer technology and the internet.....$$$$$ for someone. Lets create some fraud for only 10-40M

Don, totally agree, it is time to modernize our voting process to align with the ID centric world. Let's move forward.

If the democrat party was hurt instead of now benefiting from voter fraud, they would support voter ID. It's as simple as that.

Pitythefools makes some good points, so let's address them. Points 1,2 & 4, we should have our IDs reflect who is an alien or felon. Simple adjustment, right? To answer point #3, under the current system there is a nominal risk of being caught and even less chance of facing meaningful punishment. In response to point #5, some of the most economically challenged countries in the world manage to accomplish this so I think we can as well. The fact that a majority of us believe that we have a voter fraud issue means that we have a problem. Such a perception leads to a loss of confidence in the system. This will inevitably leads to diminished participation. Isn't high voter turnout what the left SAYS they're all about? Don't believe them. They are in fact advocates of a loose system that harvests votes from questionable sources.

I'm in my 50's and got carded twice in the past week. Restaurants and liquor stores have to make sure people are legal who buy alcohol, why is it any less important to make sure the people choosing our leaders are legal voters?

There is no voter fraud in the whole country, if it cost $2.35 and wouldn't do what the regressives want it to do, stop Democrats from voting , then it would be worth it,but Billion upon billions wasted to do this in our country is ridiculous.

The author must not have read S.F. 0509, the bill that Dayton vetoed which this amendment replaces. According to it a military ID is NOT valid. Only a driver's license, a Minnesota ID, tribal ID or the newly-created "Voter identification card" will do. Government-issued photo IDs such as passports and military IDs are specifically excluded. (Several of his other claims are contradicted by the bill as well.)

potter101-There was a time when I would scan the postings and make it a point to read yours because they generally had some thought provoking content. Your latest posting in inconsistent with your previous input. I hope all is well for you.

In 2008 and 2010 combined there were a dozen instances of voter "fraud", and these were released convicts that voted. If Coleman had beaten Franken in 2008 and if Emmer had beaten Dayton in 2010 the silly Greedy Old Party would not be pushing this. They don't care about "fraud". They want it to be difficult for mainly minorities to vote. Period!