The integrity of our elections is of great importance to me and to my colleagues in the Massachusetts Statehouse. Every American citizen has the right to vote in our elections and should be encouraged to do so. Certainly no one should have to pay for the privilege.

But requiring an ID at the polls violates that very right.

The suggestion by the state Republican Party that Massachusetts should have a ballot question about voter IDs takes us in the opposite direction of the objective of giving every citizen the opportunity to vote. Instead, it puts restrictions on that right and adds a cost to those who can least afford it.

Who doesn’t have a driver’s license?

City dwellers are one example; they live in areas with public transportation, so a driver’s license is not needed. (It costs a minimum of $115 to obtain a Massachusetts driver’s license, and that does not include driving lessons.)

Voter ID laws disproportionately affect low-income, racial and ethnic minorities, the elderly, and people with disabilities. Many seniors have given up driving and let their licenses expire. Should they go through the effort and expense to keep up an ID that is only needed for voting?

The same goes for disabled people who cannot drive. Who is going to guide a blind person or a quadriplegic through the process of obtaining a special ID? Does a voter ID law include funding for assistance for these folks?

My Republican colleagues have stated that other states require voter ID, and it hasn’t created any problems. This is not true; these laws have created problems by disenfranchising those without IDs.

Voters in states like Georgia, Ohio and Wisconsin are required to produce ID to vote; and while the numbers of those turned away or forced to cast a “provisional ballot” can be counted, it is impossible to estimate how many people never bothered to show up at the polls due to this restriction.

No one will wait in an eight- or five- or even two-hour line if they are not guaranteed the right to cast a ballot at the end of that line.

Voting by mail is even worse in these states, with voters required to upload copies of their IDs in order to apply for an absentee ballot.

Imagine an elderly grandparent trying to figure out how to scan and upload both sides of their driver’s license — if they still have one. It’s much more likely that they won’t bother, and thus they will be deprived of their ability to vote.

We have checks and balances from the local level up to the state level to prevent fraud here in the commonwealth, and they work.

To register to vote here, a citizen must produce proof of residence and a signature. The address is verified, and the voter is then listed at the city or town clerk’s office, with the signature on file.

When a citizen votes in person, they must give their address and name. If they vote by mail, their signature on the ballot envelope is matched to the signature on file.

Clerks are very careful about this process, and as a result, there has been only one provable instance of voter impersonation fraud in Massachusetts, back in 2015, according to the conservative Heritage Institute (www.heritage.org/voterfraud/search?state=MA).

The data clearly shows that Voter ID is a solution in search of a problem. The Statehouse should remain focused on solving actual problems instead of working on legislation that would do a great deal of harm without any benefits.

And how much would voter ID cost the state?

Millions may be spent on a voter education campaign; Texas spent nearly $2 million on voter education and outreach when it passed a voter ID law. It would cost even more millions to ramp up a state-issued ID program for those without driver’s licenses. Indiana spent over $10 million to provide “free” ID cards from 2007-10.

Additional thousands must be spent to train town clerks and poll workers. And that doesn’t count the out-of-pocket costs for the elderly, the disabled and poverty stricken, who are forced to spend time and precious income obtaining an ID.

In Massachusetts, there are 4.7 million registered voters — 3,657,972 voted in the 2020 election, a 76% turnout.

Studies indicate up to 11% of voters do not have government-issued photo IDs. The percentage is higher for seniors, minorities, the disabled, the poor and students.

If 11% of Massachusetts do not have licenses, then 402,377 would be disenfranchised. Compared to only one instance of voter impersonation fraud in the past 10 years, the ratio of disenfranchisement to fraud is far too high to contemplate requiring voter ID.

Elections with integrity mean ensuring that all voters can be heard and counted. And when all of the voters’ voices are heard, elections will accurately reflect the will of the people. That was the goal of the framers of the Constitution, and it should be our goal now. 

Rep. Tram T. Nguyen, D-Andover, represents the 18th Essex District in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.