KBNP Radio

Democrats are truly misinformed about voting, and Tobias Read, Dan Rayfield, and Tina Kotek are wrong to claim that voter ID would necessarily disenfranchise voters.

They claim that requiring identification to vote will disenfranchise voters, but the available turnout data do not establish that conclusion.

In 2022, 66.9% of Oregon's estimated eligible electorate voted in the midterm election, and in 2024, 75.4% voted in the general election.

So who is being disenfranchised by Oregon's current voting system?

In the 2024 general election, Oregon estimated 3,257,425 eligible voters. Of those, 3,060,374 were registered, and 2,308,256 actually voted. That leaves 752,118 registered voters who did not vote, while another 197,051 is the estimated difference between the eligible voting population and registered voters.

The math is:

3,060,374 − 2,308,256 = 752,118

and

3,257,425 − 3,060,374 = 197,051.

We cannot determine from Oregon's election data exactly how many eligible people do not possess identification, because the state does not maintain that information as a voter-registration statistic. What we can determine is that there is a substantial population of registered voters who did not vote at all.

If the claim that voter ID would broadly disenfranchise voters were supported by these turnout figures, we would expect to see much higher turnout among registered voters. Those who are able and willing to vote will vote, while those who are not will not, and an ID requirement may not substantially change that.

When Slogans Replace Reason
Thomas Sowell captured a hard truth: “One of the painful signs of years of dumbed-down education is how many people are unable to make a coherent argument. They can vent their emotions, question other people’s motives, make bold assertions, repeat slogans—anything except reason.”
That pattern now defines much of public life. Debate often collapses into accusations, slogans, and motive-hunting instead of evidence and logic. Schools that once drilled grammar, history, and structured thought now emphasize feelings and slogans. The result is adults who can shout but cannot follow a chain of reasoning or weigh trade-offs.
A free society depends on citizens who can argue, not merely emote. Restoring rigor in education—facts before feelings, logic before slogans—is not nostalgia. It is the only way to recover the capacity for self-government. Without it, we keep trading reason for noise.

Jeff Merkley was ready to leave Washington. Then Trump began “shredding the Constitution,” he says — and the senator from Oregon decided the fight was too urgent to walk away.
https://mrf.lu/2Sr27