To the editor,
So many facets of this invigorating 2012 campaign have claimed our passion and our attention. I am concerned that one amendment may slip too easily past our radar — the proposed Minnesota voter ID amendment. Under this amendment all voters will need a photo ID in order to vote. There will be no exceptions, even to already-registered voters.
I understand that this proposal adversely affects various groups of Minnesota citizens. Two of these groups are persons I encounter regularly — the elderly and the homeless.
Please consider the elderly. In so many ways their world becomes more difficult as their lives change and they are dependent on others to do things they could always accomplish on their own. Not all of our elders have a friend, family member, or a companion to assist them. To a group of persons for whom finding a ride to a doctor’s appointment or to get groceries is difficult, we would add the burden of transport to a county or state office. There, these citizens who have voted legally and never fraudulently their entire lives, would be required to navigate the paperwork involved the ID application process.
Please consider the homeless as well. They have no permanent address. They, too, are without a network of advocates to transport them to a government office to apply for their ID. The unpredictable path — the very nature of the lives of the homeless — makes applying for, and securing, an ID difficult, if not impossible.
To both of these vulnerable groups we would impose cost and frustration. Are these two groups not among the very persons our government purports to protect? Let us stand behind them and every Minnesotan to make sure that the voter ID amendment is rejected. Please vote no.
Patricia Bjorum
International Falls, MN
