BUFFALO (WBEN) - State Senator Rob Ortt again called election security to the forefront of concerns for New York State residents.
"Our republic is founded upon the principle of free and fair elections," said Ortt. "To ensure that those who are casting votes are the ones allowed to do so is of the utmost importance. The security of our elections should not be taken lightly. A valid form of identification is required to buy something as simple as cough medicine at the grocery store, so some form of identification should be needed to protect one of the foundations of our society."
Ortt wants New York to join 35 other states and is advocating for legislation to require a valid government-issued photo identification card to be presented when casting a ballot. One counterpoint to the idea of required photo ID is that it could cause voter suppression, as it could hinder people who can't afford it. However, Ortt dismissed that argument.
"In today's day in age, I never understood that narrative, nor do I really believe it," he said. "I find it hard to believe, with the amount of things that you need some identification for, that there are large swaths of people who are voting that do not have a form of ID."
Regardless, he says there's a provision in the bill to help mitigate that problem anyway.
"To address that, in this bill, if you are on Medicaid and cannot afford an ID, the fee for a state-issued picture identification is waived," he added.
There has been an increased call for automatic voter registration, and Ortt said he would be willing to listen to that idea if other legislators simply come to the table to discuss voting laws in the first place.
"I would be interested in any kind of engagement on this issue," said Ortt. "To this point, we have not had it; we have not had this from Democrats. Anything regarding voter ID is dismissed - they don't want to talk about it, they don't want to hear it."
