A recent letter supported requiring voter identification. The author cited the need for identification in other areas of life as one of his reasons. However, I believe he failed to draw the important distinction between rights and privileges. Voting is a right not a privilege like driving. With respect to the author's other argument that Republicans are only seeking to prevent "ineligibles" from voting, his argument is not supported by objective fact. Rick Hasen, professor of Law and Political Science at University of California-Irvine, an expert on voting, and author of "The Voting Wars," found that no documented case of voter fraud by misidentification exists in the United States. Yet, Republicans are doing everything in their power to create regulations that require photo identification, which makes voting more difficult for poor and minority voters particularly in the few states that are most likely to determine the outcome of the 2012 presidential election. Professor Hasen found that the only source of voter fraud has been in absentee balloting. However, Republicans have taken no steps to curtail fraud in absentee voting. I believe the Republican effort to require photo identification in order to exercise one's right to vote is an effort to rig the election for the Republicans by denying the right to vote to people more likely to vote for Democrats.

Sandy Holtzman

Bellingham