Ever since Republicans first proposed the idea of requiring people to show a national or state-issued photo identification in order to vote on Election Day, it has been sold as a way to eliminate fraud and restore honesty to the process. What these advocates fail to tell you is that they are supporting a system that surely will deny some Hoosiers their right to vote.

On the surface, this seems simple enough. Present your driver's license and you can vote. Who couldn't meet that requirement?

• People who live at nursing homes and no longer drive, for one.

• Women who have married and changed their names, because their driver's licenses will not match their voter registration files.

• Minorities who have had to face many barriers in the past in their efforts to vote.

• People who have lost, or had their ID stolen close to election day.

• The many people who live in our community daily "under the radar," in shelters.

Under the guise of so-called "voting reform," Republicans are taking the first step in disenfranchising voters. It is a solution to a problem that does not exist, except in the minds of those who wish to protect political gains by preventing others from voting.

Consider the alleged cases of electoral fraud that have purportedly occurred in recent years in Indiana.

They all have involved absentee ballots. The Republican proposal fails to address this issue. As the Republicans have advanced this proposal, they have failed to provide a single instance where electoral fraud in Indiana has occurred at a polling site. What they will create is an atmosphere where people will be prevented from exercising their right to vote. It will be more difficult to vote in Indiana than it was in Iraq, where a person simply had to dip a finger into a bowl of ink in order to cast a ballot.

I have supported amendments that require any person who does not have a state-issued photo ID to sign an affidavit that swears the voter's name and address are correct. The same requirement would be made for anyone who fills out an absentee ballot at a local clerk's office.

This provision would have helped give Indiana the toughest photo ID legislation in the country. However, it was rejected by the majority Republican Party in the House. The vast majority of voters have photo IDs and should be required to show them. However, those who do not have photo ID when they are at the polls should not lose the right to vote.

• To contact me, you can send an e-mail to h75@in.gov.

• For other legislative resources and information about me, visit my Web site at www.in.gov/legislative/house_democrats/repsites/r75/.

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