Cox So Overwhelmed With Vote Fraud That He Can't Explain How Photo ID Laws Would Stop It

Rep. Stanley Cox (R-Sedalia) was back in front of the House Elections Committee today, asking his colleagues to support his newest Photo ID constitutional amendment (HJR64).*  This year's proposal does not include any enabling language, and would require future General Assemblies to actually draft and pass the legislation to suppress voter turnout for the poor, disabled, elderly, etc. 

To kick off his presentation, Cox said the vote fraud in Missouri is so pervasive, it's impossible to quantify the extent to which it has corrupted our political process.  In his words:

There are unscrupulous individuals that operate within our system and lessen the importance of your vote.  And, in fact, folks all over the state.

There are countless examples of voter fraud in the state, in this state and elsewhere.  It comes in various forms.

One common theme in this, in these vote fraud schemes is that it's underhanded and secret. 

Listen:

A statement like might lead you to conclude Cox has so many examples of fraudulent voting that he's simply unable to count them all.  But when pressed to provide just a few of these "countless" examples that his legislation would help address by centrist Rep. Chris Kelly (D-Columbia) , he fumbled and stumbled to provide a coherent response.

Listen to their exchange:

I find it incredible that after years of proposing this legislation, Cox and his colleagues who want so badly to reduce voter turnout among Democratic-leaning constituencies haven't bothered to really come up with a compelling reason for enacting their bills. In his exchange with Kelly, Cox was only able to provide three examples of the fraud he says necessitates photo id requirements:

• "Mitzi the Dog," an unspecified case
• Carmen R. Davis, an ACORN employee who pleaded guilty to filing false paperwork with the Kansas City election board in 2007
• 41 non-citizens voted illegally in San Antonia, TX from 2001-2007

Not exactly a compelling case for imposing new burdens on tens of thousands -- perhaps a few hundred thousand -- Missouri voters.   And in the case of the ACORN employee, which conservatives may cite as evidence of a grand conspiracy, it's important to note that she was convicted of voter registration fraud under existing laws, and which Cox's photo ID requirements would not have prevented.

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*The bill's cosponsors are Birther Cynthia Davis, Birther Tim Jones, Marilyn Ruestman, Eric Burlison, Tom Flanigan, Brian Munzlinger, Walt Bivins, Jeff Grisamore and Jason Smith.  What else do you need to know about the merits of the underlying proposal?