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In today’s column (gift link), I warn against new federal voter laws using a local example of why we should be wary.

I rewatched “Goodfellas” the other day and mused over Henry Hill philosophy about life as a gangster. He points out that the only records of his life were his birth certificate and his rap sheet. He didn’t vote, didn’t serve on juries, didn’t get a drivers license. That’s how he stayed off the radar.

Law-abiding citizens don’t think this way. We get licenses to drive, hunt and fish. We apply for Social Security and Selective Service. Many apply for college financial aid or other programs. Some of these acts produce or require documents with photo identification, some do not. But there is a clear line between the things we must do, or have a constitutional right to do, and the privileges of being an American. We are entitled to all of it, but it’s not all the same. Defrauding any aspect of these rights or privileges is already a crime. Denying people their rights, however, is just as bad.

Voting is one of the unshakable rights. And it’s important that people vote exactly where they are supposed to vote. That’s why states have devised differing means for citizens to prove where they live. Some states are more strict (harder to vote) and some are more flexible (easier to vote). The federal government’s role is to ensure the basic right to vote. That distinction is not new or imagined, but constitutional.

You would be amazed at how few cases of voter fraud are detected despite rigorous audits performed every year in every state. Here in Minnesota, even though we have mail-in balloting, early voting, same-day registration and multiple means of proving identity, voter fraud is very, very rare. It’s always prosecuted, because it’s easy to find. That’s why so few people do it. And, not that anyone asked, but undocumented immigrants are never the culprits. Landlords voting for their tenants and kids voting for their dead or dying parents are the most frequent offenders.

And yet Voter ID laws and strict registration rules are always being proposed. Today, these proposals come from the Trump administration. Now, I don’t crave partisanship, but I do point out that, in 2020, this administration actively tried to overthrow a democratic election based on voter fraud allegations that were proven false in dozens of courts across the country.

Most reasonable people might dismiss election claims from such an administration, but these are not reasonable times. Anti-immigrant fervor and radical “replacement theories” stoke a lot of belief that “illegals” are “stealing” our elections. It’s not true. It can’t be proved. There is no evidence. But here we are, arguing.

I think most reasonable people, right or left, can be convinced of the broader dangers of messing with a system that works and gives people the right to vote for whomever they want.

Read “Strict new voter proposals have us searching for our true ID,” in the Thursday, March 5, 2026 edition of the Minnesota Star Tribune.

Aaron J. Brown is a columnist and member of the editorial board for the Minnesota Star Tribune. His new book about Hibbing Mayor Victor Power and his momentous fight against the world’s largest corporation will be out soon.