Stephen McGarvey’s column on voter ID published on Tuesday is not only severely misleading and lacking in fact, but also demonstrates a troubling and distorted idea of the election process and our democracy as a whole. Aside from stating the baseless and erroneous charge that undocumented immigrants make up the Democratic Party’s base, McGarvey argues that somehow making voting more difficult is the way to “securing our election process.” McGarvey seems to think that a true democracy is one in which only those “deserving” of a vote should have the right to cast one. Ideas such as these pose a serious threat to our election process. McGarvey would have you believe that voter fraud is rampant when, in reality, there have been fewer than 10 alleged cases of voter impersonation between 2008 and 2010 in Texas out of 13 million votes cast. Considering the ongoing trend of abysmal voter turnout, it is my belief that elections should be more accessible to voters, not less. When we make arguments based on misinformation and a slanted view of democracy, we hinder progress and efforts to increase the voice of all people in our election system.

David Loewenberg
Government sophomore
Campus director, University Democrats