Texas’ Attorney General Ken Paxton filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court asking that the state’s stringent voter I.D. law remain in place.

Strange. Paxton’s thinks there’s fraud going on in Texas. He certainly might know all about fraud, as he is being investigated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

But voter fraud? That’s another story entirely.

Governor Greg Abbott said earlier this year that voter fraud is on the rise and rampant in Texas, but politifact.com found that to be false.

In 2013, then-AG Abbott showed that there had been 18 convictions from 2002 through 2012. But has there been an upsurge since then? Nope. Since 2014, only 20 voting related referrals – not convictions – have been referred to local prosecutors.

Is that a landswell of voter fraud? Are people overrunning our election system, trying to sway it?

I think not.

Instead, the more restrictive voter I.D. laws have turned people from the polls. Let’s face it, people simply don’t turn out to vote in the U.S. Of voting age residents, only about 53% regularly vote.

Belgium ranks at 87%, Turkey at 84%, Sweden at 82% of people actually doing their civic duty and voting. Spain, Portula, Italy, Norway, South Korea, Czech Republic, Slovakia  – all those countries rank ahead of the U.S. in voter turnout.

So, why make it so much harder for someone to vote. When you consider that in Texas, there are more than 16 million residents of voting age. There have been many elections since 2014.

And there are only 20 voter related referrals? That’s a violation rate of less than .000012%.

Is there voter fraud in Texas? Sure, a teeny, tiny, miniscule bit.

Do these laws make it harder for elderly or poor or those without a drivers license to vote – when they ARE American citizens? Yes.

Don’t make the rules more restrictive. Instead, let’s make it easier for voters to actually voice their opinions.