To the editor:
(Tuesday) I voted, as I have voted at every opportunity since I was 18 years old, and I am no kid. That’s a lot of votes.
But (Tuesday) was the first time I left the polling place feeling anything but pride in my country, my state and myself. I left offended and appalled, not just because I had to show my I.D. to someone who has known me for 20 years, but I had to recite my name and address to that person.
My driver’s license was scanned and verified in a database. At that point, I was nonplused. Is there now a test before we are allowed to vote? Apparently so, because that was followed by an instruction to read an oath aloud to the poll worker and then sign it.
At that point, I was hot; really hot. This felt like an exclusionary tactic. Voter turnout is already low and now we treat registered voters — citizens — like criminals.
I don’t mind showing a picture I.D. I do it to cash a check.
I could almost swallow the process, right to the point of reading an oath, at which point I felt violated.
Voting is important, but if I am who I say I am and I prove it with I.D., if my word is good, why is an oath necessary?
I cannot quite put my finger on it, but this doesn’t feel like America. Voter fraud in Kansas is not extreme. If it happens at all, it doesn’t affect the election outcomes. (Around here, even Democrats do not affect the outcome). I am certain this voter I.D. process did not originate from or with the involvement of the voting public.
As a state, are we so afraid of the possibility of voter fraud that we will risk increasing voter apathy and decreasing voter participation?
I would like to see this policy modified or terminated.
Thank you,
Kathy Monfort,
Iola, Kan.
P.S. I talked to my daughter in Manhattan who also voted. She was only required to show her I.D. Is the oath requirement something voters only have to do here?
