Rep. Walsh: I Want to Ensure Every Vote Counts

Statement

On Thursday, Rep. Joe Walsh (IL-08) re-introduced his bill, the Federal Election Integrity Act. The measure requires citizens to present a government-issued photo ID to vote in federal elections and provides money to states to provide IDs to those who cannot afford them.

"I want to be clear on something," said Walsh. "I want to make sure every American eligible to vote has the opportunity to do so, and more importantly, I want to ensure that everyone who does vote has their vote counted. However, every fraudulent vote cast cancels out any cast by honest Americans -- and that is what I am opposed to."

In June, Walsh introduced legislation almost identical to that of Rep. Henry Hyde (IL-Ret.) that passed the House of Representatives in the 109th Congress. After Walsh introduced the measure, he was contacted by several outside groups wanting to lend their support and worked together to improve upon the language. That included former Attorney General Ed Meese and Susan Carleson, CEO of the American Civil Rights Union.

"As Representative Hyde stated when he offered the bill: "There are many elections in this country every cycle that are decided by just a handful of votes. How can we be certain that these elections, without measures to certify the identity of voters, are not being decided by fraudulent votes?'" explained Walsh. "I share those concerns, and that is the reason I am carrying on his initiative."

Meese said: "Requiring all voters in a national election to show identification at the polls is a common-sense measure to prevent fraud and corruption. We applaud Rep. Walsh for his leadership in protecting the integrity of each and every legitimate vote by introducing national voter ID legislation."

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