New law only suppresses illegal voters (or those who don't care)

If the Tennessee Democratic Party's public display of political whining over the issue of Congressional and legislative constituency realignment was not enough, State Democratic Chairman Chip Forrester is taking his fruitless complaining a step further, this time criticising Tennessee's new law requiring photo identification of some kind in order to be allowed to vote. Forrester has said that the law is a Republican attempt to "suppress Democratic turnout in the elections of 2012 and beyond." We know, of course, that Democrats like to enhance voter turnout, and that in order to do this they reach out to constituencies such as those buried in the cemeteries of our major cities, and those citizens of the great State of Arkansas whose only difficulty in casting a ballot is that they live on the other side of the Mississippi River from Memphis.

 

When we hear Democrats use code-words like "suppress turnout", they really mean that they can't enhance turnout with the constituency groups most likely to be automatic Democratic votes on Election Day, which is why Chip Forrester and his cronies despise the new voter identification law. The groups who would be denied access to the polls-thus "depressing" the turnout-include illegal aliens, those not resident in the precinct in which they are attempting to vote, non-residents of Tennessee, and those which are known no longer to animate this mortal coil. 

 

If you have a valid driver's license, you'll be voting next year, and if you don't drive then a validly issued State photo identification card also works for voting purposes. If you don't have a State photo ID, then beginning January 1st the State will issue you one free of charge to you, so there should be no complaints about any poll taxes, real or imagined. If you vote absentee, the identification requirement is waived.

 

The only folks that Tennessee;s new photo identification law will keep away from polling places are those who obviously don't care enough about voting to get a photo ID card, or those who have no business voting in the first place.