These days, just logging on to an online bank account requires you to navigate a maze of passwords, PIN numbers and questionnaires about your first pet, your mother’s maiden name and your first boyfriend’s older sister’s favorite pet.

So we were a little surprised to discover on Election Day that in some Oklahoma counties, casting a vote for president of the United States required no more personal identification than walking up to a polling place and saying, “Hi, my name is…”

That’s why we’re glad Oklahoma Republicans have filed a bill that would require voters to show some form of ID when they cast their ballots. (See page 2 for details.)

The proposed law won’t be so strict as to be a barrier to voting. Every registered voter is issued a voter ID card, so Oklahomans start their voting careers with sufficient ID provided to them. Lost your voter ID card? Whip out a driver’s license. Lost your license? Bet you have a Social Security card. Can’t find your Social? Get a passport.

Requiring voters, all of whom are over the age of 18 and the vast majority of whom have multiple forms of ID, to produce some proof that they are who they say they are is the only responsible course of action in a country plagued by identity theft and charges of voter fraud.

Particularly in local elections, in which a handful of votes can determine which representative heads for Oklahoma City or which candidate assumes a mayoral position, every vote counts. The slight risk that requiring ID might discourage some voters is far outweighed by the benefits of ensuring that every vote is accurate.

We’re certainly not in favor of voting restrictions that require voters to do anything more than show up with an ID on them. Identification policies designed to force people off voter rolls because the names they are known by don’t match federal databases (for a Matthew who goes by Matt, for example) should go the way of literacy tests and poll taxes.

But the proposed Oklahoma law wouldn’t impose any unnecessary burdens on voters. It would simply require that they prove who they are using a government-issued ID — which is actually a lot easier than being interrogated about your first boyfriend’s older sister’s favorite pet.