Since elections are so crucial to the very fabric of our nation, there have always been people who seek to manipulate elections for their benefit. For decades, the crooks of Tammany Hall in New York City routinely stuffed ballot boxes, twisted arms, and invented vote tallies to make sure that their fellow crooks were elected into office. During the LaGuardia administration and for several years afterwards, Tammany was so corrupt that it was none other than the "Prime Minister" of the mob, Frank Costello, who pulled the strings of New York politics.

New York was by no means unique. After the Civil War, there were widespread efforts in the former Confederacy to rig elections in favor of the existing power structure. Artificial barriers were put in place that were designed to prevent black folks from casting ballots or running for office in an attempt to keep white folks in control of the government.

Thankfully, both Tammany Hall and the racist vote suppression in the South are in the past, but modern efforts to rig elections are still prevalent. As recently as last week, Republican Ron Paul and Democrat Dennis Kucinich are voicing concerns about vote rigging in the New Hampshire primary.

One of the tools that has been used in other states to combat election fraud is requiring voters to prove their identity before casting a vote. Currently, 18 states require that a voter present identification before voting and seven states request identification. Requiring voter identification is a tool that helps secure elections by helping prevent fraudulent voters. It is not the silver bullet for guaranteeing honest elections, but merely one useful tool that helps with that goal.

Wisconsin does not require voters to prove their identity at the time of voting. Wisconsin-ites are only required to state their name and address before casting a ballot. If I know your name and address, I can walk into your poling place and cast your vote - no questions asked. I’d be committing a felony, but proving that I did it would be next to impossible.

Requiring voter identification is not without controversy. Some argue that requiring voters to prove their identity presents an undue burden on those who do not possess a form of identification. Such a burden, they argue, might disenfranchise such voters. It’s not an argument without merit and honest people can debate the point. I believe that that the minor burden placed on voters by requiring them to prove their identity is outweighed by the need to prevent voter fraud, but I understand the other side of the argument.

Wisconsin Rep.s Bill Kramer, Samantha Kerkman, Daniel LeMahieu, Scott Gunderson and Gary Tauchen have come up with a compromise bill on this issue. It would allow voters to choose whether or not that want to have their identity checked before casting their vote. It doesn’t secure elections as much as I would like, but it allows individual voters to choose whether or not they want their vote to be secured.

I possess valid identification in the form of a driver’s license. This bill would allow me to require the state of Wisconsin to check my identification before someone casts my vote. If someone does not possess a valid form of identification, they can continue under the current system.

Since this bill does not mandate that voters present identification, there is absolutely no risk of disenfranchising voters who do not possess identification. Thus, one would think, there isn’t any reason that anyone would object to this bill.

Of course, the opposition to requiring voters to identify themselves has little to do with the fear of disenfranchising people. Liberal blogs have already attacked the bill and the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin has registered to lobby against it. Given that the bill merely asks for voluntary voter identification, a more cynical person might think that opposition to the bill is rooted in support for voter fraud. And perhaps the good folks who ran Tammany Hall just wanted to make sure that the people’s voice was heard.

Voluntary voter identification is a tiny step toward free and fair elections. Wisconsin should pass it into law.