Des Moines Representative Libby Jacobs argued against same day voter registration today on Iowa public radio, but threw in the towel when asked for evidence to support her view point.

The only legitimate argument Jacobs made was that voters could cast multiple ballots at multiple polls if the bill passes.  When asked if this actually happens in the several states that have practised same day registration for many years, Jacobs said she hasn’t kept up with the results in other states. 

Ha!  You can bet she’d know about it if there actually were any evidence of busybody voters.  So she is just using this argument without bothering to see if it’s true?

Jacobs and a couple callers made other, even weaker points against the bill.  Jacobs wanted to make sure voters were “eductated” and implied that educated voters would have been registered under the old system.  A caller said if voters couldn’t get registered under the old system they wouldn’t be likely to use the new more lenient system anyway.  Another caller worried that last minute campaign surprises (i.e., dirty tricks) might prompt new voters to pour into the polls based on erroneous information. 

These three arguments all indicate lack of faith in law-abiding voters. 

So opponents don’t trust voters to have good judgement, to be educated or to behave honestly.  All these worries can be directed against voters who register well in advance of elections.  There is apparently no bureaucratic reason for requiring advance registration.  At least no one  mentioned one today.

Jacobs also said this is not a partisan issue in that there is no Republican party caucus position on it.  It’s just a coincidence that the bill passed the House state government committee on a party line vote!