The idea of requiring a photo ID from people before they cast votes keeps yo-yoing back in the Legislature. Sen. Scott Newman, (R-Hutchinson) is proposing a bill to present photo identification at the polls.

This bill has been proposed and shot down before, most notably in 2012, when Republican majorities in the House and Senate placed it on the ballot as a constitutional amendment. Minnesota voters rejected it with a 53 percent margin, and elected Democratic majorities in the House and Senate.

The idea of requiring a photo ID for elections is a solution to a problem that really doesn’t exist. Republicans who back it say it would prevent anyone from trying to vote as someone else. This is a form of voter fraud that rarely happens. In fact, voter fraud of any kind rarely happens in Minnesota and most other states.

Coming off an election that is still being called by disinformation campaigns as one marked by massive fraud, though no actual evidence of that kind of fraud could be produced, do we need more voting restriction requirements that put stumbling blocks in the way of voters on the off chance someone might try to cheat? Or should we be looking for ways to make it easier for honest voters to cast their ballots in turnouts so large they make it impossible for the rare cheater to have any effect?