(By Randy Russ/Louisiana Center for Election Integrity) – The SAVE America Act has launched a national debate about how best to secure our elections. Polling on this issue consistently shows that 70-80 percent of registered voters believe that a valid photo ID should be required to cast a vote. We are fortunate in Louisiana that voter ID has been required for many years to cast a ballot during early and election day voting.

This may not be the case for a proposed provisional ballot.

Senate Bill 319 by Senator Thomas Pressly from Shreveport holds the promise of closing a gap in our election law that allows people to sign an affidavit if they do not have photo ID at the polls. That vote is counted based upon the belief that whoever signed the affidavit was being honest.

The Help America Vote Act passed by Congress in 2002 required states to offer provisional voting. According to the Louisiana Secretary of State Nancy Landry, provisional voting provides a “fail-safe” procedure for voting in federal elections when any person appears to vote and is not listed as an eligible voter on the precinct voter roll. Sen. Pressly’s bill will offer the option of a provisional paper ballot to replace the affidavit. So far so good.

Under this bill, voter will have two days to provide ID to prove who they are, not photo ID if they “do not have one,” but a choice of a mélange of things like utility bills, bank statements, and pay stubs coupled with non-photo IDs such as a social security card. These options are not necessary. As President Donald Trump points out, a photo ID is the best, most secure way to prove your identity and should soon be required nationally to vote in federal elections.

State-issued photo IDs are provided at no charge to those who cannot afford them for this very purpose. There is no valid excuse not to get one. Photo ID is required to go to buy alcohol, apply for government benefits, board a plane, check into a hotel, get a job, enter a bar, cash a check, rent a car, register a vehicle, retrieve a towed vehicle, buy insurance, enter a courthouse, send a package and on and on.

Why would we lower the standard for voting?

Senate Bill 319 could strengthen, not degrade, our election integrity by eliminating the affidavit process and replacing it with requirement that a person casting a provisional paper ballot has two days to present a valid photo ID to the registrar of voters in order for the provisional ballot to be counted.

The good news is that federally required reports on provisional Voting in Louisiana reveal that Parish Boards of Election Supervisors and Registrars of Voters are doing a great job of evaluating provisional ballots and counting only those which comply with the law.

If Senate Bill 319 removes the unnecessary forms of non-photo ID from the bill, we would continue to give these officials the tools they require. It would comply with the SAVE America Act so our election integrity in Louisiana would meet President Trump’s standard being demanded by so many for our federal elections.

Dr. Randy Russ PhD is a retired business executive and professor, as well as a Co-founder of Louisiana Citizens for Election Integrity