Husted op-ed: Senate Republicans want to make it easy to vote and hard to cheat in America

“I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues in the Senate to bring what Ohio has achieved to the rest of the country: making it easy to vote and hard to cheat.”
WASHINGTON – Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio) penned this
op-ed
in the Washington Reporter to outline how photo ID provisions would help make it easy to vote and hard to cheat in America.
Key excepts include:
“Before joining the U.S. Senate, Ohioans trusted me to serve as their chief elections officer, electing me two times as Ohio Secretary of State.”
. . .
“My mission was simple: to make it easy to vote and hard to cheat.”
. . .
“As Secretary of State, I championed voter roll maintenance — making sure individuals are not registered in multiple places, which can open the door for someone to accidentally or nefariously cast an illegal ballot.”
. . .
“It is because of this experience, as the only current Republican U.S. Senator to have served as a Secretary of State, that I can point to Ohio as a state that runs fair and secure elections. Since my time as Secretary of State, Ohio has taken even more steps to ensure our elections remain secure, including requiring photo ID at the polls.”
. . .
“Americans show their ID every day — when entering government buildings, at the grocery store, to stay at a hotel, to start a job, or to rent a car. And with photo ID requirements in place, Ohio’s 2024 presidential election saw one of the highest turnout rates of the last four presidential cycles.”
. . .
“Photo ID is not a new idea. In fact, 36 states, including Ohio, already have some form of voter ID law in place. States like Wisconsin and New Hampshire require photo ID, and these laws have stood the test of elections across the country. They work.”
. . .
“More than 80 percent of Americans
support
requiring a photo ID to vote.”
. . .
“I listen to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to find common ground to make progress on issues where we all agree. After hearing Democrats’ support, I brought this issue to the Senate floor — a clean, simple amendment that would require Americans to show a driver’s license, state ID, passport, military or veterans ID, or a tribal ID to vote in an election.”
. . .
“Every single Senate Democrat voted against the amendment with a vote of 53-47. But this is not over. Americans deserve confidence in their elections, supported by integrity measures like photo ID.”
. . .
“It is time to set a nationwide standard for election integrity. I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues in the Senate to bring what Ohio has achieved to the rest of the country: making it easy to vote and hard to cheat.”
Read the full op-ed
here
.