A little help here, please.

My state senator, Joe Haynes and I disagree on a regular basis. Here is another instance.

According to this morning's Nashville City Paper, Sen. Haynes refused to allow an amendment to his bill (SB100) that would require voters to prove their US citizenship. I'm with Sen. Norris, I don't understand what could possibly be the objection to making sure that only citizens get to vote.

“Some of the fears that some of my democratic colleagues and I have are that this will make it difficult for some people to register to vote,” Haynes said. He added he did not believe every person could recall immediately where their birth certificates are.

Um...it's not like elections sneak up on folks and they're caught unaware of the event. I would think that any voter who took this responsibility seriously, would know that an election were coming, have researched the candidates and made sure their registration status was current. It's not that difficult to obtain your birth certificate. I suggest that everyone have a certified copy handy.

And don't we want to make it difficult for 'some people' (non-citizens) to register to vote? While we don't need to make voting unnecessarily difficult, something as basic as making sure only citizens elect our representatives seems an essential foundation to our republic. Proving you're a citizen is a long cry from our history which has required a poll tax be paid or land ownership.