经济学人:选民身份认定——不再继续

VOTERS in Texas have had three electoral excitements lately. The first was that in February, after a series of rejections, federal judges in San Antonio finally approved a new map for the state’s congressional districts, meaning that Texas could finally set a date for its primary (May 29th). The second is that their votes may actually matter a lot in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. The third came on March 12th, when the Justice Department blocked a controversial state law, passed last year, which would have required people to produce identification carrying a photograph before voting.
德克萨斯的选民们近来经历了三件选举兴事。第一件事发生在二月，在一系列拒绝之后，联邦法官们在圣安东尼奥市最终认可了本州的国会选区的新地图，意味着德克萨斯可以最终为他的候选人初选会确定一个日子（5月29）。第二件事就是他们的选票事实上可能对共和党首长任命的竞争有着举足轻重的影响。第三件事发生在3月12，当司法部门驳回了去年通过的有争议的州法，关于要求选民在投票前照相作为身份证明的事。

As it stands almost 30 states require some form of identification at the polls, although most of those do not require photographic ID. The Justice Department blocked a similar measure in South Carolina in December, and this week a judge in Wisconsin overturned a voter-identification law there on the ground that it was unconstitutional. Future cases are expected; Alabama, for example, has a photo requirement scheduled to take effect in 2014.
以现状来说，将近30个州在投票环节要求一定程度的身份认证，尽管绝大多数都不要求照片方式的身份认证。司法部12月在南卡罗来纳州也驳回了类似的一项措施，并且在这周在威斯康星州的法官也推翻了那里的一项选民身份认证法规，因为那条法规违反了宪法。未来的情况可以预见，比如阿拉巴马，的照片要求预定将在2014生效。

Supporters of identification, who are usually Republicans, say it is a necessary protection against voter fraud, even though the number of people who have been caught sneaking into the polls is negligible. Democrats argue that such provisions have the effect of disenfranchising minorities, young people and the poor, who are more likely to lack suitable ID than other groups (and who mostly vote for them). In Texas nearly 800,000 people would have been affected. Because of the racial disparities, the Justice Department determined that this would be a violation of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, designed to bar discrimination at the polls.
身份认证支持者，大部分是共和党人声称那是对抗投票作弊的必要保护措施，尽管在投票中作弊的人数少到几乎可以忽略。民主党则争论那样的规定对剥夺少数人的权利有影响，年轻人和穷人，会比其他群体更可能缺少合适的证件(但恰恰他们更可能投票给民主党)。在德克萨斯将有将近800,000人受到影响。因为种族差异，司法部判定这是对在选票环节禁止歧视行为的1965年选举权法的违背。

Since both political parties have an interest, both will press on. Rick Perry, the Republican governor of Texas, condemned the decision as an example of federal meddling. The law, he said, “requires nothing more extensive than the type of photo identification necessary to receive a library card or board an airplane”.
因为双方政党都有利益取向，两边都将坚持。德克萨斯的州长Rick Perry责难的认为这个决定又是联邦越界干预的一个例子。他说原法案只限定要求了获取图书卡或是机票所必需的认证照片的类型而已，并没有更宽地限制什么。

That raises a good point. Identification is important; people often need it to get financial services, or a job, or just books from the library. If hundreds of thousands of people in Texas do not have it, that is a problem that should be fixed. No doubt both parties would agree. But in the meantime people will, at least, be a little more confident about their ability to vote.
这是一个有力的观点。因为身份认证的确很重要，人们时时都需要用它来申请金融服务，工作，甚至借书。如果德克萨斯成千上万的人都没有它，那就是个一定要解决的问题了。毫无疑问在这点上两党都必须同意。但是至少在这期间人们更加坚信他们投票的权利。