Milwaukee Journal: Voter ID Not Necessary...

(Republican State Chair) Graber went on to criticize Gov. Jim Doyle for vetoing legislation that would have required one of three photo identification cards at the polls. He thereby may have betrayed his true motives: to disadvantage people without the proper ID cards - a driver's license or a state or military ID card - who tend to vote Democratic.

Tellingly, despite long linking with much clamor the electoral problems in Milwaukee to the need for a voter ID card, neither Graber nor any other Republican leader has cited a single case of fraud here that such a requirement would have headed off. The requirement wouldn't have precluded even the four instances in which the U.S. attorney alleged double-voting.

In one such case, the defendant had what would be a mandated ID, a driver's license. She used it to register to vote at two polling sites. Another defendant used his driver's license once and a Social Security card the second time at the same site. And a third defendant used once what would be a mandated alternative ID, her state ID card, and the second time her Social Security card. In all cases, they gave their real names. Keep in mind that a photo ID requirement is designed to prevent false identification, which does not appear to have played a role in the double-voting cases.

Now, foiled by Doyle, who has vetoed the photo ID requirement, Republicans are plotting to put it into the constitution - a process that excludes the governor. The party is using the falsehood of widespread voting fraud in Milwaukee as a rationale.

But the truth is that fraud was at best spotty and identification fraud rarer still.