John Thune: “if one thing is abundantly clear from polling, it is that there are a lot of Americans out there of both parties who…”

“if one thing is abundantly clear from polling, it is that there are a lot of Americans out there of both parties who find voter ID requirements and proof of citizenship requirements for voter registration to be pretty commonsense policies. One poll, in fact, showed that a whole lot of voters already believe proof of citizenship is required to register--I assume because it seems pretty darned common sense to most people to ensure that those registered to vote are eligible. I mean, Americans are pretty used to proving eligibility--joining the military, signing up for Little League, applying for SNAP benefits, signing up for Medicare, starting a new job, all situations in which Americans have to prove that they are eligible. And you know what? Americans are doing a pretty good job in those situations. I haven't heard a lot of sob stories about how someone would have signed up their kids for Little League if only the paperwork wasn't so darned complicated. And yet, do you know what Little League requires? A birth certificate, and not one, not two, but three proofs of residence. And yet somehow every year thousands of kids sign up for these teams. Do you know what else you need a birth certificate for? Signing your kid up for public school. That is right. A birth certificate is an extremely common requirement, and somehow parents of all sorts of backgrounds and income levels have managed to produce their child's birth certificate to sign them up for school.”