Make patriotic election integrity measure law

Not only does it make good sense but also is vital and patriotic to put into law procedures that obviate the cheapening of democracy.

HB 691 by Republican state Rep. Beau Beaullieu would strengthen voting integrity by requiring Louisiana, if there is no charge to the state or it appropriates money for the purpose, to use the federal government’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements database 180 days prior to a regularly scheduled federal general election (every two years). This allows vetting of registered voters for citizenship, and already is being performed as a matter of policy since the federal government dropped access charges.

Even though noncitizens can’t vote legally, GOP Sec. of State Nancy Landry has found that layer of security breached. She reports over 400 such registrations and over 100 actual votes cast by such individuals during this decade, citing the need for this bill.

Yet Democrat House and Governmental Affairs Committee members and testifiers allied with them downplayed this wound to democracy. Some suggested it was no big deal because the illegal registrations equaled about 0.014 percent of all registrants and that the number of illegal votes they claimed was so small as to not have any substantive impact – despite the facts that Landry lost her first try for office (state House) by 33 votes, Republican state Sen. Heather Cloud was cheated out of her mayoral office in 2014 by at least four illegal votes, and in Caddo Parish its most recent sheriff’s election had to be rerun after the difference turned out to be a single vote but maladministration of counting had contaminated the results.

That simplistic view denies the importance of the most fundamental building block of the American republic – fair and free elections, without which this experiment in democracy would fail. Saying that toleration of a very low level of illegal voting isn’t problematic to the health of the polity is like saying society should tolerate a relatively low murder rate as it isn’t a threat to society as a whole. Untrue: any tear to the fabric puts the entirety at risk, and so maximal measures should be taken to prevent any injury regardless of prevalence.

A more defensible argument against the bill suggested by some opponents focused on the accuracy of the SAVE system with its many millions of entries. With so many to deal with, errors will creep in such as former noncitizens gaining citizenship which subsequently would necessitate their names’ removal as noncitizens.

However, the bill ensures that any flagging of a suspected noncitizen is vetted carefully. After that scrutiny, current law dictates that ultimately the questionable registrant has the opportunity to appear in person to clear up any mistake within 21 days of notification. It appears highly unlikely that this process would remove a legitimate voter.

Other red herrings were offered, such as questions about security of private information (which is at least as safe as the current voter database). Naturally, the panel’s 9-7 vote fell along partisan lines with Democrats shamefully in opposition for no good reason other than perhaps they see the potential for partisan gains on their parts with a system with reduced integrity.

With Republicans having solid majorities in both legislative chambers and one of their own in the Governor’s Mansion, although they will have to put up with rehearing the discredited arguments against the bill throughout the process, they have every means to shepherd it into law. It’s a patriotic duty they need to perform, and with relish in safeguarding our system of government.