A proposal to prevent voter fraud is contained in the Frederick County Commissioners' 2013 Legislative Package. If it's passed, citizens who come to the polls to vote would need to present an I.D..

Supporters say it would prevent someone from claiming they are another individual in order to cast a ballot.   "We are opposed because historically, we've really supported legislation to protect and extend voting rights to all citizens, and to remove any barriers to voting," says Claire Condig, the President of the League of Women Voters of Frederick County. "It's seems like a rather benign thing to have some kind of I.D. It is a barrier to voting," she continues. "And the fear is that many people just won't bother when they know there's another barrier."

The proposal was introduced by Commissioners' President Blaine Young, and added to the Legislative Package. While saying he's not sure how  widespread fraud  is in Frederick County, Young says he wants the county to be proactive. He says a I.D. requirement is worthwhile even if fraud is not a problem.

But Condig says there's very little evidence that this type of voter fraud is prevalent across the country. "In fact, there was a very comprehensive Carnegie investigative report that found just ten cases of voter fraud since 2000. That's an average of one case per year in the entire country."

She says laws to prevent voter fraud put barriers in the way of certain members of the public to vote. "There's been a concern in states that there's an attempt to disenfranchise a certain group of citizens, the elderly, the disabled, the mentally handicapped," she says.

The Commissioners held a hearing on their Legislative Package last week. They're expected to finalize their "Wish List" during their October 25th, and November 1st worksessions.