Colorado voter-id bill goes down

Republican Ken Summers' has twice now seen his proposed legislation that would require voters to show photo I.D. go down. PoliticsWest reports,

Summers, R-Lakewood, said today that his bill – House Bill 1115 – is necessary to keep ineligible people from voting and to protect the integrity of the state’s election system. But voter rights activists countered that it could disenfranchise elderly, disabled or other groups of eligible voters who have difficulty getting a photo I.D.

“Adding this requirement creates nothing more than an additional barrier to voting,” said Elena Nunez of Colorado Common Cause.

Summers ran a similar bill last year, which met a similar fate...

The seven Democrats on the 11-member House State Affairs committee... vot[ed], with little discussion, to postpone the bill indefinitely.

Unless and until Summers can produce evidence of systemic voter fraud in Colorado his bill should continue to die the same death. The government should not be in the business of constructing barriers to voting unless there is a proven need for such legislation. Summers is proposing legislation to address a problem which simply doesn't exist. His legislation though would significantly hinder the ability of the poor, the elderly and the disabled to exercise their right to vote. That these voters vote overwhelmingly for the Democratic Party and that Summers is a Republican is, I'm sure, just a coincidence.