Should it be easier to buy a gun than to vote?

Where is the conservative principle in requiring a photo ID to vote and a birth certificate to register to vote for the first time? “No one has justified the cost and inconvenience of this nuisance intrusion into our lives to our satisfaction,” wrote Ned Valentine, editor of the Clay Center Dispatch. Arguing that errors related to voter machines are a greater concern than noncitizen voters, he concluded: “Whatever happened to conservative passion to err on the side of individual freedom — to make government leave us alone and stay out of our lives? Should buying a gun now be easier than casting a vote? Put another way, should casting a vote be as difficult as buying a gun? It is no wonder the ranks of independent voters continue to swell with former Republicans.”