I agree with former Governor Robert Ehrlich that voting is “our most sacred constitutional right.”  (“Middle class value claims are a joke” http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-ehrlich-1019-20141018-column.html)

“The removal of ineligible names (mostly the deceased) disenfranchises nobody,” Mr, Ehrlich wrote.  No dispute there.

However, the so-called voter reforms that he and the Republican Party support are intended to make it more difficult for many citizens to exercise that sacred right.

These voter-ID laws require that an individual show a government-issued ID in order to cast a vote.  If you don’t own a car, you likely don’t have such an ID.  If you don’t own a car, you likely are poor or young and vote Democratic.

In Texas, for example, a concealed handgun will allow you to vote but not a student ID.

In Maryland, a voter can prove identity with a photo-ID from an employer, or a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document that shows the name and address of the voter.

Justice Ginsburg, dissenting from the Supreme Court’s order allowing the Texas law to be enforced, declared, “The greatest threat to public confidence in elections in this case is the prospect of enforcing a purposefully discriminatory law, one that likely imposes an unconstitutional poll tax and risks denying the right to vote to hundreds of thousands of eligible voters.”

Voting is a sacred constitutional right.  It needs to be protected against partisan efforts to suppress its exercise.