NOTE: I’m pulling the bulk of this blog post in order to publish it elsewhere. You can see the original post at Why Christians Should Be Up In Arms About Voter ID Laws blog post.
The point of the post is that although proponents say the purpose of voter ID requirements is to reduce voter fraud, they cannot point to any examples, anywhere in the entire nation, showing a significant amount of fraud that would be corrected by these laws. The problem simply does not exist. So the only effect of voter ID laws is to suppress the vote among groups known to be most likely to vote Democratic.
Here’s my conclusion to the original post:
Clearly, one party is attempting to misuse the law to dishonestly gain political advantage, and that is wrong. Period.
And that is why:
Christians should be outraged about the push to enact voter ID laws!
That push is nothing more than a cynical and dishonest ploy to gain an unfair edge for one party over the other. The entire effort is permeated by the deceit required to keep the electorate ignorant of the real purpose and impact of these measures.
Christians, of all people, understand that righteous ends are not to be sought by unrighteous means.
Revelation 14:5 And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God.
John 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. … There is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
God doesn’t need the devil’s methods to get the people He wants into office! Any campaign that can’t be pursued openly and honestly is not of God, and Christians should neither participate in it nor lend it their approval. Instead, we should strenuously protest the dishonest tactics being used to gain an unfair advantage in the coming election. Even if, or especially if, it is our own party that will gain the advantage, we should utterly refuse to fight the battle with the weapons of the enemy of our Lord.
2 Corinthians 10:4-5 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.
If it was clear that voter ID laws correct a significant voter fraud problem, I think most Christians, no matter their political orientation, would enthusiastically support them. Knowing that it often costs poor and inner city people much effort and expense to get ID, we would set up ministries to help them do so. We should be doing that anyway.
But since the ONLY thing these laws accomplish is to suppress the vote of one party to give unfair advantage to the other, Christians ought not to support or even tolerate them. Instead, we should resist these efforts with all the righteous indignation we can muster.