Of Course I am who I say I am.

So this morning I got up, went and ran at the park and then headed over to Fieldstone Presbyterian Church, my local polling place.

I love Election Day. Always have. I remember begging mom and dad to let me stay up and watch the returns back in 1984. I wanted to be sure Ronald Reagan won. Obviously that didn’t work out quite like I wanted, as the night was over pretty quick. But I love Election Day, love voting.

So I arrived to vote, passed by the people who were campaigning for their given candidate and walked into the building. As always my favorite poll worker Betty, an 80 year old lady who as sweet as she can be, greeted me for check in. She asked for my name and address and marked through my name to indicate I had arrived to vote. And, as in past years, she didn’t ask for my ID.

It has become my custom, every year, to ask Betty if she needs to see my ID. I followed through on that again this year. “Betty, do you not need to see my ID?” I asked. “No dear, they don’t require it,” Betty responded. She added, “I really wish they did though.” “Me too,” I said. Then, Betty being Betty, said, “I’ll check your ID though if you want me to,” a big smile on her face. So I pulled out my ID and handed it over. She examined it thoroughly as the other senior ladies at the table looked on and laughed. She handed it back, we shared a quick laugh, and I moved on to vote.

As I said, this is my custom every year. I find it unconscionable that showing proof of identification is not a requirement to vote in this country. Only 8 states require a photo ID in order to vote. Only an additional 18 require any form of identification at all. That leaves 24 states, North Carolina among them, which do not require any form of ID to vote. That’s 24 states that are wide open for voter fraud.

It seems, at least to me, that requiring a legal form of identification in order to vote is simple common sense. Ensuring that our elections are open and fair is one of the most basic duties our government is charged with. Yet, in almost half of this country, there is no mechanism to ensure American citizens are not cheated out of their vote.

If our elected officials can’t get this most basic issue resolved, then how in the world can we expect them to solve the more complex ones like the National Debt and budget deficits?