Voting, after all, is our great shared ritual; it cuts across everything — region, ideology, religion, class and race — that can divide our nation. Registering to vote should be convenient, and voting itself should be efficient and pleasant, with machines operating properly, accurate and current registration lists, minimized fraud and disputes handled fairly.

Citizens should see their votes as both a right and a privilege and be proud they are citizens in a democracy.

Yet as the November elections approach, the systems by which they’re run seem more beleaguered and fragile than ever. Recently, the Pew Center on the States found that about 51 million eligible citizens aren’t registered at all, and roughly one in eight voter registrations in the U.S. — that’s 24 million — are either no longer valid or are inaccurate.

Voter fraud is no joke, but treating fraud seriously and giving legitimate voters access to the ballot are equally important.

Much of the debate today on election laws centers around whether voters should be required to show photo identification at the polls. Requiring voters to identify themselves with a photo ID is a safeguard that helps build confidence in the system. But it has to be accompanied by an aggressive effort to reach qualified voters.

Improving elections will be neither easy nor inexpensive. States need to make elections administration a top priority — updating systems and eliminating errors, doing more to register citizens, making voting convenient and promoting information on registration and the voting process before the election.

Surely it’s worth it. The legitimacy of our system of voting in this country is strengthened by increased access of citizens and their confidence that their votes are counted accurately and securely.

Lee Hamilton, former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, director for the Center on Congress at Indiana University