Despite its reassuring title, the Vote SAFE initiative--which stands for Secure and Fair Elections--is unfair to voters and unsafe for our democracy. The initiative, for which signatures are now being collected in preparation for the June 2010 primaries, will severely limit the number of eligible voters and make it much easier to disqualify those already registered. By adding a mass of confusing regulations to the existing law, citizens who merely want to fulfill their civic duty will be unjustly turned away at the polls.

One of the main changes the measure proposes is that all those voting in person will have to show an official, government issued photo identification in order to receive their ballot. The name on the ID would have to correspond exactly with the name listed in the voting record. While proponents of the initiative will no doubt claim that it will prevent those attempting to vote in someone else's name, the main consequence will, in fact, be disenfranchisement. Under this proposal, anyone whose name appears differently on their ID and their voter registration card--as small a difference as the absence of a middle initial or "Ed" for "Edward--will be kept from the polls.