The timing of a recent attempt to repeal Tennessee’s popular and valuable law requiring photo ID at polling places is strange.
After all, it was less than two weeks ago that Tennesseans went to the polls on Super Tuesday, and state election officials could find virtually no instances of voters being denied their right to vote for lack of appropriate state- or federally issued identification.
The few who didn’t bring the correct ID had the option to cast provisional ballots and then present ID later in order to have their votes counted.
In other words, as far as the photo ID law in Tennessee is concerned, so far so good.
So it’s odd that in the wake of that smooth election, the State and Local Government Committee in the Tennessee House narrowly passed a bill that would repeal the new voter ID law.
To put your mind at ease, it is highly unlikely that the Republican-controlled General Assembly as a whole will go along with repealing the law.
Nor should it. As Tennessee’s recent primary election as well as elections in other states with similar laws have demonstrated, requiring photo identification is not a means to disenfranchise voters — except perhaps fraudulent voters.
And unfounded objections to the law do not change the fact that weeding out voter fraud is a reasonable thing to do.