What's the real reason that legislatures in 41 states, including Minnesota, have introduced bills to require voters to show a photo ID? The Sierra Club suggests it has nothing to do with preventing voter fraud but rather is an attempt to disenfranchise three groups that consistently support environmental issues: young voters, 18 percent of whom do not have photo IDs, Latinos, 11 percent, and African-Americans, 25 percent. And who's driving this push for legislation?
According to the Sierra Club, it's the corporate-financed American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which presents to its members in state legislatures "model" bills it wants enacted. ALEC is a nonprofit organization, but Common Cause and others have insisted it is actually a lobbying group and should lose its nonprofit status. There has been little, if any, evidence of voter fraud anywhere in our country -- nothing like the fraud that would exist if these laws are passed and eligible citizens are prevented from voting.
RICK SCHOLL, HOPKINS
