President Donald Trump just stirred the pot again, issuing a new executive order on voter ID requirements.
This is an issue that the American people say needs to be addressed.
Yet, Democrats and activist groups continue to contend that such action amounts to voter suppression.
In terms of how Americans feel about voter ID, this issue has remained constant over the years… the majority of Americans support it.
After all, we need an ID to do just about everything else in this country, so requiring voter identification seems like a no-brainer, at least to those of us with sense.
I have seen polls on this dating back to 2022, and they are always the same. For instance, a poll in 2024 by Gallup showed that 84% of Americans supported voters having to provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote, a result very similar to those in past surveys.
Not only that, but voters also supported more early voting, which I also favor, because I believe it alleviates the need for absentee voting except for those who are incapable of leaving their homes due to medical conditions and those who are overseas, which is very much in line with the spirit of Trump's order.
On Sunday, Trump announced that he was going to issue an executive order on voter ID.
He posted to Truth Social, "Voter I.D. Must Be Part of Every Single Vote. NO EXCEPTIONS! I Will Be Doing An Executive Order To That End!!!”
The post continued, “Also, No Mail-In Voting, Except For Those That Are Very Ill, And The Far Away Military. USE PAPER BALLOTS ONLY!"
The order will likely fail, but it just goes to show that while Trump is trying to give the American people what they are asking for, Congress continues to fail us.
The order itself is unconstitutional, as election rules are quite clear and must be passed via Congress or within individual states themselves (states set their own election rules).
The Brennan Center for Justice pushed back against Trump's initiative, stating, “As many as 11 percent of eligible voters do not have the kind of ID that is required by states with strict ID requirements, and that percentage is even higher among seniors, minorities, people with disabilities, low-income voters, and students.”
I have proposed this before… the federal government should provide funding for free state IDs for everyone of age in this country. This would include mobile ID centers that would travel throughout areas where people find it difficult to obtain proper identification. I think few on the right would resist this because it removes the top argument by Democrats and activist groups on this subject.
I know Trump’s order will fail, but the point of the order is dead on. This issue can easily be fixed if Democrats and Republicans would get together to solve the alleged ID access issue, and it is an easy fix. The problem is that most politicians would prefer the conflict over the resolution.
