Scott Gessler for Colorado Secretary of State

An overwhelming majority of voters say yes - about 80%, according to recent polls. and the support goes across party lines. Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James Baker led a national, blue - ribbon commission that recommended photo ID as one of five pillars to improve the integrity of America's elections.

This overwhelming majority wouldn't be so quick to support photo ID if it didn't work - both here and in other countries. Most recently, photo ID worked well in the three - way, hotly contested mayoral election in Albuquerque, New Mexico. And in other countries - such as Mexico and Nicaragua, photo ID has helped root out fraud and build trust. Many credit Vicente Fox' victory in Mexico to a new nationwide photo ID law that prevented vote fraud in Mexico's elections.

So why has Colorado lagged behind?

In part, it's because hyper-partisan Democrats call photo ID a "modern day poll tax," while others claim photo ID depresses turnout. But these claims do not hold up. States that required photo ID also issue it for free, while academic research has not demonstrated any reduction in voter turnout (despite academics best efforts to prove reduced voter turnout).

And in Colorado, a district judge in 2004 found "absolutely no credible evidence" that Colorado's weak voter identification requirements "chilled" voting. (In fact, that same judge found "a substantial probability that recent and unprecedented voter registration drives in this state have resulted in an unprecedented level of registration fraud.")

Despite all of the benefits of photo ID, Colorado Democrats still resist this modern improvement - including the current Secretary of State.