A pet piece of Republican cookie cutter legislation — to require voters to exhibit a photo ID — passed the House today 53-36. Rep. Darrin Williams voiced heartfelt opposition on behalf of his elderly adoptive mother, who never drove and never had a driver’s license. It is not an easy matter to get a photo ID if you are poor and have no car, Williams said.

The bill provides no assurances about any reliable or funded way to get a ready source of voter IDs available around the state. But the bill is about discouraging poor, minority and elderly from voting. There’s only the slightest of anecdotal evidence of any significant problem with unregistered people voting or voting in the names of others. It’s simply not an effort-rewarding exercise. Better to buy your votes in Congress and the legislature with money, as the Kochs have done.

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The bill goes to the Senate.

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