Large majorities favor voter ID as Democrats move to ban it

The Democrats in Congress are still trying to find a way to shoehorn HR1 through to Joe Biden’s desk without needing to eliminate the filibuster. The so-called “For the People Act” is full of badness, including the quashing of states’ rights in determining how to run elections and the elimination of privacy for donors to some non-profit groups. But one of the worst measures in the bill would virtually overrule the rights of states to implement voter ID laws. That may turn out to be a poison pill for the Democrats, judging by a recent poll released by Rasmussen Reports. The bill’s authors may be calling this “for the people,” but I’m not sure which people they’re talking about. Three quarters of the country actually support voter ID laws, while only a relatively insignificant percentage on the far left want to see the practice banned.

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As the U.S. Senate considers legislation that would revamp America’s election laws, voters still overwhelmingly support laws requiring that voters show identification before casting a ballot.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 75% of Likely U.S. Voters believe voters should be required to show photo identification such as a driver’s license before being allowed to vote. Only 21% are opposed to such a requirement.

You can read the wording of the questions and see the full results here.

The Democrats are playing with fire here. A 75/21 split isn’t even remotely close. In the divided nation we inhabit today, you can almost never get 75% of Americans to agree on anything. (Well, except for “free money,” apparently.) The odd fetishism among liberals on this issue has always fascinated me. None of them seem to have any problem with the requirements to show your ID to board an airplane, rent a car, purchase alcohol, or cash your paycheck at a bank. But when it comes to your constitutional right to participate in electing the nation’s leaders? Nope. That should just be a free for all.

The party split on this subject should also be setting off alarm bells for the Democrats. The highest level of support for voter ID laws comes from Republicans, of course, coming in at 89%. But 77% of independents support it, and even 60% of Democrats do. As to the frequently cited liberal claim that voter ID laws discriminate against Black people, voters reject that assertion by a two-to-one margin as well. (60/31) And once again, I’m not sure which “people” the “For the People Act” is supposed to be representing on that score, because 69% of Black respondents said they support a requirement to show your identification before voting.

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This is yet another example of the Democrats regaining control of the legislature and rushing to enact partisan legislation that is widely unpopular. That’s how a party manages to lose its majorities when the midterms roll around.

Of course, they may not have to worry about it. This bill will be lucky if it attracts a single Republican vote in the Senate and it’s unclear whether they will even be able to get all fifty Democrats to support it. Nancy Pelosi is already making noises about suspending the filibuster to pass HR1 (not that the Senate rules are any of her business), but King Joseph has already said he won’t support any special exceptions to the filibuster rules.

It would almost be worth it to see this bill pass just to watch it be challenged in the courts. On top of that, there could be the bonus feature of handing the Democrats enough rope to hang themselves and then sitting back to watch what happens next. Of course, I said “almost” worth it. In reality, this disaster seriously needs to just go down in flames.

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