The United States (US) Constitution, as initially written, was conspicuously silent on voting.

“The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States,” Article 1, Section 2.

“The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, [chosen by the Legislature thereof,]* for six Years,” Article 1, Section 3

* was changed by the 17th Amendment allowing for Senators to be elected by the people of the State instead of the State Legislature.

The, “President of the United States of America … shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected,” by Electors appointed by each State, Article 2, Section 1.

That’s it, nothing more is mentioned about voting. Who would be allowed to vote in Federal, State, and Local elections was left for the States to decide. Each State had its own Constitution, prescribing the roles, functions, and elections of each respective government. The Founding Father’s did not intend for the Federal government to be involved in determining the make-up of the voting population.

At the onset of the Nation, many States were restricting voting to white, male, landowners. To be a landowner, you almost certainly had to be male, and in the time of slavery, it was unlikely that many States were going to allow black men to vote, though there were some black, male, landowners authorized to vote.

The initial thought process for the constricted voting parameters had to do with taxation. Land was generally the main source of taxation at the time, and men were generally the only ones able to be employed in the economy. Since men were the only ones who could make any significant money, they were the ones who were able to purchase land, and the only ones who could be taxed. Taxation was considered a duty, and since the elected government officials were to oversee the States’ treasury and determine how that money was spent or allocated, it was thought that only those paying into the system should vote for representatives that would spend that money.

From 1868 – 1971, Constitutional Amendments 14, 15, 19, 24 and 26 created the Constitutional requirements to the States for voting as follows;

Every citizen of the US, having attained the age of 18 shall not have their Right to vote denied or abridged on the account of race, color, previous condition of servitude, sex, age, or failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.

The majority of States have Voter ID Laws (34) with the ACLU classifying 7 States as having, “strict photo ID laws.” Many have argued that Voter ID laws disproportionately affect low-income, racial and ethnic minorities, the elderly, and people with disabilities. This is difficult to prove and even more difficult to understand. A government-issued photo ID is required for a number of activities;

• Opening a bank account

• Renting an apartment

• Buying a home

• Boarding an airplane

• Purchasing tobacco or alcohol

• Purchasing some prescription and over-the-counter medication

• Driving/Renting a car

• Entering a Casino

• Purchasing a firearm

• Attending a university

• Completing I-9 employment eligibility forms

• Obtaining a marriage license

• Applying for Welfare, Medicaid/Social Security

Most of these are not Rights but are the free exercise of economic freedom. Purchasing a firearm, however, is an enumerated Right. In order to exercise that Right one must have two forms of identification, submit to a background check, and in some States, wait 3-7 days to take possession of the firearm. It would seem to reason, that based on the deafening silence with respect to requiring an ID to purchase a firearm, our society is comfortable with requiring and ID to exercise Rights.

All Rights should have universal requirements (or no requirements) for the free exercise thereof. It seems contradictory to contend that the right to vote, which was not specifically acknowledge until 1870, would have different, lower standards for exercise than the 1st and 2nd Amendments.

Voter ID laws do two things. First, they ensure that the individual at the polling site is a resident of the State in which they are attempting to vote. Second, they ensure that the person attempting to vote is who they say they are. Voter ID laws, however, do nothing for the terrible mismanagement of voter registration rolls of the many States.

According to a 2012 Pew Research study, approximately 24 million—one of every eight—voter registrations in the United States are no longer valid or are significantly inaccurate.  More than 1.8 million deceased individuals are listed as voters. Approximately 2.75 million people have registrations in more than one state. All of these instances of mismanaged voter registrations provide an opportunity for voter fraud. Requiring a photo ID to vote can mitigate some of voter fraud opportunities, but more needs to be done to ensure the integrity of elections.