Can Common Sense Survive A Lawsuit?

Indiana Democrats are at it again. They are still squawking about Indiana's Voter ID law.

Even after being defeated two years ago in a 6-3 decision from the United States Supreme Court, they just can't stop whining about having to play fair at election time. Now they are taking a different approach, trying to pick apart the law as violating the Indiana Constitution.

The League of Women Voters' latest attack on the law finally made it to the Indiana Supreme Court two weeks ago. It is anyone's guess how long the court will take to decide on the issue. The lawsuit alleges that the two exemptions from the photo ID rule -- for absentee ballots and residents of nursing homes -- violate the Indiana Constitution's "Equal Privileges and Immunities Clause."

In essence, the lawsuit feigns concern that it is unfair to the rest of us if Indiana makes an exception for grandma so she doesn't have to leave the nursing home to obtain a picture ID from the BMV.

Please, give me oxygen.

Let's put on our grown-up pants and consider this situation with a little common sense.

You have to show ID to get your food stamps. You have to show ID to buy cigarettes and alcohol. You have to show ID at the pharmacy, or to cash a check. It is not unreasonable for any government agency or private business to require valid identification in the course of a transaction.

If someone does not have a driver's license, and is not willing to make the nominal effort required to obtain their FREE state government ID, I can't help but conclude that they don't consider voting a high priority. And if they are that apathetic, they shouldn't be in a voting booth anyway.

Voting is the most important transaction any of us will ever make. The integrity of elections is crucial to maintaining our constitutional government. Elections have serious consequences. Just ask the people who voted for Barack Obama on a whim in the last election!

Nobody is denying anybody the right to vote. This is not a matter of discrimination, this is a matter of safeguarding the foundation of our republic -- free and fair elections. I am amazed that a Voter ID law wasn't passed years ago.

The tales of election fraud, especially in Democratic strongholds in northwestern Indiana, are legion. There have been instances of a precinct's total vote count exceeding the total number of voters registered in that precinct -- an especially amazing statistic when you consider that voter turnout normally averages below 50%.

Just as in other states, many of our deceased citizens have been known to cast ballots, so dedicated are they to their civic duties. Other election hi-jinks, such as homeless people being transported from precinct to precinct, their multiple votes having been bought with cigarettes, have been an open secret for years.

Politics can be a dirty business. The allure of power, and the money that comes with it, often bring out the worst in human nature. Voter fraud contaminates our political system, and steals from us the right to choose who will decide our future.

The only way to protect ourselves from election fraud is a strong Voter ID law. Without it, it is too easy for crooks to steal elections. If we want to keep the foxes out of the hen-house, we had better make sure that the foxes only get one vote apiece.

Call me crazy, but the fact that our state Democratic Party refuses to let this issue rest makes me wonder: Are Indiana Democrats just afraid that they can't win in an honest election?