Recently, the Vice President of the U.S. said that if the voting rights bill stalled in Congress does not pass, the U.S. will be “off the map as a role model” for elections; it is too bad she is so uneducated regarding who is setting the map for more secure and accurate elections. The bill as written, may very well be un-Constitutional as it seems to circumvent Article 1, Section 4 of the Constitution. The idea that the U.S. is a role model for elections is open to debate however, as the link to the article by John R. Lott, Jr. points out.

Of forty-seven countries in Europe, forty-six of them require a government issued ID to vote. During the last major election in India, over six hundred million Indian citizens voted, each with a government issued ID, while Mexico has not only a government issued ID but also biometrics for elections (with the result that more people are voting due to greater confidence in election honesty). Yet somehow, one party in the U.S. opposes a government issued ID as it will place too much of a burden on some individuals; perhaps that party is correct, there is systemic racism in the U.S., but it is practiced by the party which claims to be in the forefront of stopping it.

The need for election reform goes beyond voter ID however, for the European models also have procedures designed to ensure the integrity of elections. The fact that most Federal and many state elections since 2000 have been challenged (mostly by the party which opposes voter ID), should indicate that reforms are needed, but reforms which are designed to provide greater confidence in the electoral process.