Why photo IDs are important for election

I have a reply to the letter by Joan Ziegler, president of the League of Women Voters of Glenview, about the issue of voter photo IDs. Mrs. Ziegler feels that requiring a photo ID when coming in to vote is not serving the system.

Before you discount the importance of a photo ID to identify yourself, ask yourself why not use that safety check? Most people already have two or more and they are not all that difficult to acquire.

In our primary election in March, I along with 140 others, served as poll watchers in Chicago. We arrived right before 6 a.m. March 20 and presented our credentials to the judge in charge of the precinct. “You are poll watchers?” the judge asked us. We never had poll watchers here before.

Voters came in and without being asked produced a photo ID for the judge to verify they were who they claimed to be.

I positioned myself behind the judge early so I could read the names that were on file in the voter roster and match them to the form the voter just signed for the judge before receiving their ballot. Another woman ensured all those who voted were registered in that precinct. Midmorning, the judge received a couple of phone calls. At that point, when the judge opened her book to find the current voters page, she began to cover the signatures on file. I had to adjust for the signatures being covered.

Next, the judge would not accept a photo ID and told the voters to, “Put that away; I do not need it.” You might ask why. I sure did.

All our elections are important and to remove a safety check was wrong.

Mrs. Ziegler, I disagree with you on the importance of photo IDs in our election process.

Ron Petrucci

St. Charles