Every state in this Union should have a voter identification system, period. This nonsense of claiming a persons rights would be violated by something as simple as a state issued photo card with not only proof of residency, but also proof of citizenship, is poppycock.

It should matter not to law abiding Americans to take a few moments out of their lives to secure proper ID so they may have their say in the electoral process. But to continue to allow those who are voting illegally for any reason to continue to do so is a slap in the face of the very foundation upon which we were established.

The following piece is encouraging in that at least in one County in Texas they are taking this issue very seriously.

Officials involved in a joint federal-state probe say that some of the dozens of people under investigation in a months-long Bexar County voter fraud case may be charged with both state and federal crimes.

Federal investigators are to meet this week with local prosecutors to coordinate the cases being developed and determine who’ll face state felony charges for voting illegally and who will be deported for violating federal immigration law.

No arrests have yet been made.

Authorities said they are anticipating charging some of the undocumented people alleged to have voted in Bexar County with felony violation of state law before they are turned over to immigration agents and likely deported.

As the federal portion of the investigation begun in late May winds down, Bexar County District Attorney Susan Reed will determine how she’ll proceed in the case of the 41 people who allegedly voted, some repeatedly, despite being non-citizens.

Reed’s office will determine who will be charged with felony offenses after a meeting between Homeland Security Department investigators from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Adriana Biggs, Reed’s white-collar crime division chief.

“The joint federal-state strategy will likely be that (Bexar County) pursues felony voter fraud charges, while the parallel federal investigation will focus on violations related to identity theft, re-entry after deportation and other violations of (federal) immigration law,” ICE spokeswoman Nina Pruneda said Tuesday.

It is especially interesting how the names of some of the persons who allegedly voted illegally was uncovered:

Callanen earlier this year was updating the county’s list of eligible voters when she discovered some 330 people who should not have been on the rolls because they weren’t citizens.

Callanen compiled the list of names after she determined that they had stated on juror summons cards that they should be excused because they weren’t citizens.

Ms. Callanen should be commended for fulfulling her duties as an election official. Now if we could just get all the states to do the same it would eliminate at least some of the difficulties we face with elections in this country.