A federal judge ruled yesterday – the affrontery of it all is almost breathtaking – that federal law doesn’t preclude states from making sure its voters are actually eligible:

U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle ruled there was nothing in federal voting laws that prevent the state from identifying ineligible voters even if it is close to the upcoming Aug. 14 election.

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit earlier this month to halt the purge, saying federal voting laws barred the effort since it was within 90 days of a federal election. U.S. officials also said the list used by Florida had “critical imperfections, which lead to errors that harm and confuse voters.”

I’d say “it’s amazing what a very low opinion Democrats have of voters”, but then I think about the people who vote for the likes of Mark Dayton and Betty McCollum, and I shut right up.

Hinkle in ruling from the bench said federal laws are designed to block states from removing eligible voters close to an election. He said they are not designed to block voters who should have never been allowed to cast ballots in the first place.

And there’s the key.  Republicans favor making sure all voters are actually eligible.  Democrats would allow everyone to the polls, as many times as they want to go, to avoid the faintest shred of appearance that they’ve excluded anyone, whether they should be voting or not.

Most Minnesotans get this, of course – which is why the Voter ID amendment is polling close to 20 points above the opposition.

Although he said “questioning someone’s citizenship” is not a trivial matter, Hinkle also said that non-citizens should not be allowed to vote.

That’s just good common sense.  Also the law.

But the Democrats are hoping, as in all elections, that a plurality of the ill-informed, the lazy and the entitled will sway this question, too.