When the solution is the problem

WASHINGTON - “Solutions cause problems,” Eric Sevareid used to say, and the Supreme Court was confronted with the truth of that today when it heard arguments on the constitutionality of a law designed to deal with the problem of voter fraud.

At issue was an Indiana law which requires voters to present at the polls a government-issued photo ID card. Lawyers for would-be voters who were turned away told the Justices the law was unnecessary, and that it placed an unconstitutional burden on the right to vote.

This was one of the laws passed in the national uproar over the chaotic Florida election of the year 2000. Previously, voters in most states were allowed to vote based on minimal identification, or just by giving a signature that matched the one in the registration book. But in the wake of the “hanging chad” hysteria, the Indiana legislature (and several other states) laid on new requirements to certify that imposters were not attempting to vote.

It was illogical, because ID fraud was not an issue in the Florida fiasco - vote-counting was. In the Supreme Court, Indiana’s lawyers were unable to show a single proven instance in the state of “voter impersonation.” Nevertheless, Republican legislators in Indiana (and elsewhere) used the public concern over the Florida situation to add new restrictions or voting.

It is ironic, because the legislatures should be making it easier to vote, not harder. They should be adopting voting by mail and the Internet, weekend voting, and other techniques for making voting easier.

We’ll have to wait and see if the Supreme Court will strike down the Indiana law. The Court is expected to rule before June, in time for the election in November. In the meantime, the county’s legislators would do well to follow the creed of the nations’ doctors, who take an oath to “Do no harm.”

– Fred Graham, In Session Senior Editor