Not long ago Merrimack went to annual renewal of our dump decal. You display it on your windshield so they know you are a resident. It costs nothing to get the decal, but according to the guy handing them out, the amount of savings more than covers the cost of doing this every year. Quite a bit more. He says that asking people to present an ID once a year to get a new sticker, saves the municipality a lot of money.
Not only was there fraud at a place where not too many people were thinking about it (at the town transfer station) but there was enough of it to make annual renewals an important disincentive against it.
Of course the cost of operating the transfer station is just one part of the town budget.
So how much could it cost a town if just anyone can walk into a polling place, get a ballot without any ID at all, and vote for or against issues, Warrants, and candidates that will affect local spending and inevitably the tax burden required to fund that spending? More? Millions more?
Once a year, you need to present some ID to get a sticker to use the dump. But when you show up to vote, you don’t need an ID, you just need to provide a name on the checklist. It does not matter whose name as long as it is on the checklist.
The ID at the dump, cuts down on the number of people stealing services to which they are not entitled. An ID at the polling place provides the same protection. It is not a big deal to require ID the dump, the library, the bank, to get any government services, to rent a pair of roller skates, and dozens of other things we do more often than once or twice a year. So you are right to wonder if the people who object to voter ID are the ones stealing your votes.
