Voter ID laws suppress legitimate voters

Thanks to “voter suppression” laws that Republicans in Florida and other states are passing, I've had sickening flashbacks to the presidential election of 2000.

What good are efforts to encourage voting when such pointedly anti-democratic actions make it more difficult to register and vote? Has this country already forgotten what happened when Florida purged and blocked legitimate voters in 2000? Could you stomach having a Supreme Court stop the vote count and give the presidency to another candidate like George W. Bush, who lost the national popular vote?

Given the minuscule amount of proven voting fraud, the true purpose of such voter ID/suppression laws is little more than Republican tactics meant to block those who would legitimately vote against them.

So before we do important things like moving voting to weekends, eliminating the electoral college so that every vote counts and requiring voting, we need to stop Republican efforts that discourage legal voting.

Rob Johnson

Cedar Rapids