Why I a Democrat am for the Voter ID Bill (after much debate)

Unfortunately one of the most talked about pieces of legislation this session is a bill that doesn't address any of the major concerns I currently hold for my state. For this reason, my first reaction to the voter ID bill was "Here we go again a whole session devoted to debate over something meaningless", but after reading about this bill ad nauseaum in the paper I started to think maybe I should give it a little more credit.

My first question was why is this bill such a partisan issue with almost all Republicans in favor of its passing and all of the Democrats in opposition? I have to assume that Democrats are aware that they already have a harder time at the polls, and so will oppose anything that could make voting any more difficult, especially for those voters that may be facing harder times and statistically are more likely to vote democrat. So why are the Republicans pushing so hard for this bill? I have to assume that Republicans know that their main voting group which is comprised (generally speaking of course) of financially stable Caucasian voters will not be affected by this bill and that it sends a strong anti-immigrant message that plays right into the fears of many of their voters... The immigrants are coming in undocumented to steal our jobs, rob our state of money, and take over the system while stealing our identities and voting democrat with them.

The immigration issue is precisely the reason I have decided (tentatively and after much debate) that I am for this bill, but not for the fears about immigration listed above. I do not believe that illegal aliens are committing voting fraud if fraud is in fact happening at all. I am married into a Mexican family whose members who reside in this country vary from citizens, to documented residents, to undocumented illegal residents. Of those eligible to vote maybe one does. The rest are hampered by their embarrassment of their broken English and lack of understanding of the system and the issues. My in laws, who are here legally, won't even go to a english speaking restaurant without my husband or one of his siblings due to embarrassment of their lack of English.

The point is I do not think that this bill, if passed, will hamper the democratic vote. Statistically those that will be most affected by this bill are those that are already least likely to vote. Right now, to vote, you have to take the time to register, find the right precinct, and hopefully bone up on the issues your voting for. Bringing along ID is not that much more to ask (presuming there is a wide range of what constitutes proper ID).

Relating to immigration, I do believe it is irresponsible to have thousands of undocumented people in our country both for safety reasons and for an immigrant's own protection from inhumane business practices. If this bill makes it harder to live here undocumented I think that is a good thing. Alternatively we need to remember that for decades our businesses have practically been inviting people over simply by employing them. Now that we are educating their youth and tending to their sick we see that employing immigrants isn't as cheap as we initially thought. So yes I am for tightening regulations on employing illegal aliens, renting to illegal aliens, and generally making it harder to be an illegal resident, but I'm also for finding a comprehensive plan for dealing with those hardworking people who are already here, who have families here, and are only trying to make better lives for themselves and their kids. We need to work closely with these people's home countries, because a shaky economy is usually what forces people from home, and we need to make sure that any program we set up for those wishing to come here in the future is monetarily feasible for even those coming from the most destitute situations. Lastly we need to remember that we are dealing with people's lives most of whom are no more criminal than you and I, and although immigration is a serious political issue, at the end of the day more than political this is an issue of humanity. For every person here taking advantage of the system, there are hundreds more working incredibly hard and living honestly, they should not be criminalized.