Bills to Watch: S.B. 69 - Proof of Citizenship Required to Vote - M. Madsen

In the never ending cavalcade of bills that scream of voter suppression, I feel it is necessary to add S.B. 69 to the list. As proposed by Senator Mark Madsen (R - Lehi, District 13), the bill not only would make a mountain out of a molehill, but would also make it even more difficult for legal voters to actually vote.

In short, the bill requires that people provide proof of their citizenship when they register to vote. Not a bad idea, I mean it is only natural that citizens participate in our democracy - that is one of the advantages of actually being a citizen. But this bill goes to far in making people prove they are actual citizens.

First, a little background information. As it stands right now all you need to register to vote is to be over 18 and know your drivers license or state issued ID number or the last for digits of your social security number. It is up to the county clerk to determine if you are actually legally able to vote. This bill would put the burden of proof on to the potential voter and make them prove that they are legal.

Why is this a problem? Well, every additional step required to register someone to vote becomes one more hassle that a person will feel. The more hassles someone has, the less likely they are to actually complete an application. This bill creates a chilling effect on encouraging legal citizens to actually participate in our democracy.

Now you may say to yourself "well if these people don't care enough to fill out the form, perhaps they don't really care enough in the first place." Two points: one, every thing we add takes more and more people out of the system and makes them more and more cynical about it, and two (and this is the really tricky part) this bill makes people who would otherwise be eligible to vote not because they failed to have the right type of identification.

That's right, you need to have the right type of papers to sign up in the first place. You see, right now you can't get a Social Security Card, drivers license, or identification card with out being a legal citizen (thus taking care of the whole citizenship thing with the current form). This bill explicitly states that you must have a drivers license, birth certificate, US passport, naturalization papers, or other document that establishes your citizenship when you register.

What happened to the ID card? Should voters who can't drive suddenly not be allowed to register to vote? Aside from the drivers license, how many of you actually carry around these various forms of ID? I am willing to guess very few. If this bill were to pass, you can forget about voter registration drives at college campuses, in libraries, and at the local senior center.

And in the end...is this really a problem in the first place? Is it worth making a real problem out of a perceived threat?

This is a terrible bill and Senator Madsen should be ashamed that he is proposing it.

Click here to contact Senator Madsen.