Case for abolishing voter ID laws

Editor,

This letter is in response to Dennis Evans’ letter “Advocating for voter ID law in Maryland.”

I do agree with Mr. Evans that without “fair and free voting…we lose our republic.” That is exactly why I vehemently oppose voter suppression laws being legislated in Republican controlled states, including ID laws.

Mr. Evans was correct when he wrote that it was no coincidence Democrats overtook leading Republican candidates when mail-in votes were counted. However, he is wrong to imply voter fraud occurred. There is absolutely no evidence to indicate voter fraud. In fact, throughout our nation, mail-in voting has proven to be a very secure method of voting in several states. What actually happened in Maryland was when all the votes were counted, Democrats won. It must have been disappointing for Republicans to watch their lead disappear but to blame mail-in voting without evidence harms our democracy.

And Mr. Evans is wrong about ID laws not being discriminatory. Research clearly demonstrates ID laws target low-income citizens that do not possess government issued IDs. Research also concludes that those excluded would most likely vote Democratic.

Mr. Evans most outrageous comment was “Those that are against voter ID are only against it because they want to cheat.” Again, there is absolutely no evidence to support his accusation. In fact, there is no evidence to support the Republicans’ claim that there is widespread voter fraud, including dead people voting and people who do not exist voting. However, there is plenty of evidence to support Republicans want to suppress voter turn out and have passed legislation in red states to do just that.

Our democracy is under attack, but not by people committing voter fraud. Fox News just agreed to pay nearly 800 million dollars for making false accusations concerning voting fraud. Rather our democracy is under attack by Republicans who believe the best way for them to get and keep power is by keeping people away from the polls. And when they lose, Republicans undermine our democracy by claiming voter fraud without any evidence to support the claim.

President Trump used this lie to encourage his supporters to attempt to overthrow the 2020 presidential election. Most Republicans were not outraged about the attack on our Capitol but rather many either participated, help cover it up and/or lie about the violence and purpose of Jan. 6.

If Republicans really believed in the importance of voting, they would help us address a very real problem, eligible voters not voting. Sadly, they will not.

Tom Wallace
Berlin