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Cary

Laxity at the polls

I moved to Raleigh last June. When I went to vote the first time, I stood there with my photo ID and the poll worker told me to go vote. I asked if they wanted proof of who I was and was told no [voters have to sign their names under penalty of perjury].

My response was, "This is better than Chicago. You don't have to die to vote twice."

To board an airplane, you need photo ID. To cash a check, you need photo ID. Many stores ask for photo ID when you use a credit card. Why is it wrong to ask for ID when a person uses his or her most valuable asset, the right to vote?

Also, this is America, and we speak English. It is a requirement to become a citizen. Then why do we have ballots in other languages?

I want every legal American to vote, and proving that they are who they say they are is a small task considering the lives of our fathers and grandfathers that have been lost to protect that freedom.

It is time to wake up and make sure they have not given their lives in vain.

Gerald H. Ballan

Raleigh

Questionable stance

I would never be so foolish as to challenge professor Erwin Chemerinsky on a point of constitutional law, but if I were in his class, I'd raise my hand and -- very respectfully -- ask these questions:

1) Are you not arguing in favor of right without responsibility?

2) Of Indiana's 43,000 eligible voters who do not now have photo identification, what percentage would not vote anyway?

3) What percentage will obtain the necessary ID and vote?

4) Suppose, as you predict, other states follow Indiana and impose a requirement that all voters have photo identification: Will that not result in more people obtaining photo IDs? And will it really reduce the number of people who actually vote?

5) May we hear your views on the responsibilities of citizenship in this country, over and above the genuine concerns about race and partisan politics?

John Dendy

Durham

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