Today's Worcester Telegram posted a story about two organizations calling for voters to voluntarily show identification when voting in the 6th Worcester District House race on April 12 and the general election on May 10.
The groups, Empower Massachusetts" and "Show ID to Vote," are launching an "integrity of the vote" campaign.
According to the article:
""In Charlton," Ms. Varley said, "they walk in with ballots in a cart with locked drawers. They are banded together. There's a police officer with his weapon on bringing them in with the town clerk.
""In Southbridge the next day, they're brought in, in cracked, broken, taped-sealed, not even Rubbermaid, like Target knockoff boxes -- where the ballots are just thrown in. They're not wrapped in rubber bands. They're not sorted in any way. Visually it was stunning."
"Southbridge Town Clerk Madaline I. Daoust said the state doesn't have standard ballot-handling practices, but she insisted armed Southbridge police officers brought ballot containers in.
"She conceded that one of the five bins was broken, but this was atypical."
In a world where you can't buy a bottle of wine or a pack of cigarettes without showing some sort of picture identification, why in the world can you vote without proving who you are. A fair, honest election is a necessary part of our form of government. I hope the trend of showing id when you vote will catch on.
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