Editor&8217;s Note: This column originally appeared as a blog entry by Sam R. Hall.

Results of a five-year study on voter fraud in the United States show something that opponents of voter ID bills have been saying for a long time: voter fraud is an over-exaggerated claim, The New York Times reports.

And what about the rampant voter fraud?

The New York Times continued:

Those pesky sheriffs and judges. You can&8217;t trust the whole lot &8217;em, I say.

Sure, illegalities in elections occur. Look no further than Greene County to see some of the worst examples. But that fraud included absentee ballots, not voter fraud at the polls. But I digress.

So, how did the federal panel handle the findings that rampant voter fraud is actually… a fraud? They downplayed it, of course, and spun it like any good political panel. According to a second New York Times report:

Thankfully, not all politics is partisan. Some of the Republican members of the panel cared only about getting at the truth.

The argument behind Voter ID is that voter fraud is so pervasive in the United States that the only way to protect our most important freedom &8212; to choose our leaders &8212; is to demand everyone show photo identification at the polls. That&8217;s bunk…

But what of one of the main arguments from opponents of Voter ID. That complaint: Voter ID will disenfranchise poor, minority and elderly voters.

Again, to The New York Times:

Amazing.

If only research and proof were enough to end this politically petty fight, but it&8217;s not. We all know the reason this research and proof is flawed will soon be exposed by the political partisans.

Sam R. Hall is editor and publisher of The Times. He can be reached by e-mail to sam.hall@demopolistimes.com. His blog can be found at https://www.demopolistimes.com/multimedia/blog.