Debate Constructive Speeches

Voting is a fundamental part of our democracy. According to a survey conducted by Pew

Research Center, 68% of the public, or 7 in 10, believe that voting gives them a say in how
government runs things. Similarly, 69% of the public believe that voting is our duty as citizens.
ID laws help to establish that the qualifications for voting are met. It protects the integrity of our
democracy and preserves the rights of all those who vote legally and think of voting as a primary
part of their identity. Non-strict photo ID laws require the voter to provide a photo ID card in
order to vote. If they do not provide this card, they are given a provisional ballot. The voter must
take additional action after the provisional ballot is cast to verify ID. If the voter returns to
election officials within a short period of time after the election, which is generally a few days
after, and presents acceptable ID, the provisional ballot is counted. If not, it is disposed of. This
law protects the integrity of the election while still being lenient enough to encourage turnout.
Additionally, a federal free ID program should be put in place. This allows people without a
photo ID to acquire one. This already exists in several states, according to ProPublica, and it
helps those who may struggle financially to get an ID. The Help America Vote Act of 2002
provided new equipment to ensure an accurate vote. Photo ID laws for voters, as suggested by a
commission headed by Jimmy Carter and former secretary of state James A. Barker III in 2005,
would do similar good for the country. Voter ID laws are important to control voter fraud and
protect the rights of those voting legally, ensure an accurate election, unite the states, and create
a law that most Americans are in favor of.

Voter fraud has become a serious issue in recent years. According to voterfraudfacts.com, 70
people were convicted for election fraud-related crimes from October of 2002 to September of
2005, and many are not caught. There have been many more recent cases. According to the
Washington Times, in Colorado, there were several instances of people voting under dead
people's’ names. A woman named Sara Sosa, for example, died in 2009, then went on to vote in
2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013. Sosa’s husband, Miguel, died in 2008 but voted in 2009. Public
Interest Legal Foundation found that in Philadelphia, at least 86 non-citizens have been
registered voters since 2013, and at least half have cast a ballot in a recent election. In another
case, an investigation by data researcher Voter Registration Data Crosscheck found that nearly
43,000 voters had potential duplicate registrations in Pennsylvania or other states in 2012.
Pennsylvania’s secretary of state also admitted that more than 700 Pennsylvania residents
potentially cast two votes in Pennsylvania or a vote in Pennsylvania and another in a different
state during the 2012 election. The secretary of state added that she was powerless to confront or
investigate any duplicate voters. Pennsylvania does not require any ID to vote, and the state is
plagued with voter fraud. Voter fraud is all too real, and it is very important to protect our
elections from it in order to ensure that decisions are made by the people. Most recently, several
politicians have questioned the accuracy and integrity of just this past election. President-elect
Trump was quoted previously as having said that “it’s a largely rigged system.” Green party
candidate Jill Stein has raised money for a recount in several swing states in which Democratic
nominee Clinton lost. Additionally, J. Christian Adams, an attorney and election expert, has
condemned the cluttered United States voter rolls and said, “Dead people are voting...now we
have four million...ineligible and dead people on American voter rolls according to the Pew
Charitable Trust.” These words and actions indicate that election fraud is a legitimate concern
with politicians and experts. With narrowing electoral margins, cases of voter fraud could be the
deciding factor in certain states, which Isabella will focus more on later. Preventing voter fraud
helps to protect the rights of those who vote legally, because when voter fraud occurs, it dilutes
and weakens the votes of all voting legally, according to forbes.com. Photo ID laws for voters
don’t just protect our political system, they also protect our rights and liberties.
My partner will focus later on narrowing electoral margins, unity between the states, maintaining
turnout and representing the opinions of the people within our democracy.
 Non- strict photo ID laws should be instituted in all Presidential primaries and elections.
As stated earlier it prevents voter fraud, protects the rights of those voting legally-without
deterring “would-be” voters,which i will expand on later, ensures an accurate election, unites the
states, and creates a law that the majority of Americans are in favor of.

So let's dive deeper into election accuracy… With electoral margins becoming
increasingly narrow it is important to ensure that the vote counts reflect accurately the views of
those eligible to vote. According to uselectioncount.org, in the 2000 election, Bush beat Gore for
the popular vote by a .1% margin. Narrow margins were not only evident in national outcomes,
but state by state as well. According to 270towin.com in New Hampshire, Bush won by a 1.27%
margin. In Florida, an important swing state in the 2016 election as well, Bush beat out Gore by
0.01% margin.

In continuation with this trend of tight elections the vote in 2016 was split- Clinton won
the popular vote while Trump won the electoral. According to Politico, the closest race was in
Michigan, where Trump won by 0.3% margin. In Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Maine
the margin of victory was also exceedingly low; all under 3%. Most notably Trump won by 1%
in Wisconsin and 1.2% in Pennsylvania. These close margins are becoming a trend in recent
elections.Voter ID laws would make sure the votes are counted accurately- and each vote, each
and every vote- has more weight in our polarized political environment. Voter ID laws are
necessary to ensure that those voting legally have a say and that the election reflects the wants of
the people. As is evident through the data, state by state outcomes are becoming increasingly
narrow, there must be federal legislation ensuring accurate vote counts- through voter ID- to
counteract this phenomenon.

○ Clinton won by 2.4% in Nevada

○ Clinton won by 2.7% in Maine

Secondly let's review “uniting” the state's… According to ballotpedia voter ID laws are
already in place in more than 30 states, 16 of these states require photo ID at the polls.
Harmonizing the requirement across all 50 states simply makes sense. We’re making progress-
according to the Brennan center; in 2016, 14 states (Texas, Tennessee, Nebraska, Ohio,
Mississippi, Kansas, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina,
Virginia, Rhode Island and New Hampshire) passed laws to require photo ID in Presidential
elections for the first time ever. The next step is federal legislation- the rest of the country should
adopt voter ID laws to keep our system consistent. All voters across the country should be held
to the same standards to ensure a fair voting experience for all.

Voter ID is not a deterrent for “would-be” voters. A 2012 analysis by Reuters and
research firm Ipsos composed data from 20,000 voter interviews and found that those lacking
proper ID were less likely to vote anyway, “regardless of state law changes.” Among those who
said they were “certain to vote,” only 1 percent said they did not have proper ID while another 1
percent said they were uncertain whether they had the proper ID. One thing is clear- voter ID
laws do not cause any significant decrease in turnout.

Most importantly, passing legislation that more than half of Americans are in favor of
just makes sense, representation is an integral part of our democratic system. Voter ID laws are
nonpartisan and widely supported. In a poll conducted by gallup, 95% of Republicans, 63% of
Democrats, and 83% of Independents are in favor of Voter ID laws. In another poll conducted by
gallup it was found that 4 out of 5 Americans support voter ID laws. The backbone of the US is
democracy- we pride ourselves on having a representative government. If the vast majority of
Americans support the implementation of voter ID laws it’s important for government to
represent the people's wants; voter ID should be a requirement for the vote.

● (Aug 15-16 2016. Random sample of 1,013 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50
U.S. states and the District of Columbia. The margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage
points at the 95% confidence level.)

Non-strict voter ID laws are necessary in today's political climate. We must take action and
implement federal legislation requiring photo ID to vote.