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In a press conference this week, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) pushed for voter ID laws, citing the fact that private industries sometimes require identification — including the Olive Garden.

“Show a picture to vote — not a complicated subject,” Scalise said, adding, “Nowadays, if you want to go to Olive Garden to get unlimited pasta, you gotta show a picture ID.”

Scalise made the same argument in an interview appearance on CNBC.

“For God’s sake, you can’t go get pasta at Olive Garden without a picture ID. Why not be able to show a picture ID to vote?” Scalise complained on Tuesday.

To be sure, Olive Garden is not requiring a photo ID to enter the restaurant or to eat from its menu. Instead, Scalise (and other Republicans who have made the same comparison) are referring to a “Never-Ending Pasta Pass” that the popular Italian dining chain is offering, which gives customers 13 weeks of unlimited items after a $100 payment. In addition to the pass, each time a customer wants to redeem the deal, they must show an ID with a matching name. Only 10,000 passes are being sold.

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While the comparison between voter ID laws and the pasta pass is an easy analogy for Republicans to make, the argument does have holes. For example, Olive Garden doesn’t enforce its policy beyond an ID — a person with a stolen pass and a fake identification card could, theoretically, take part in the promotion, whereas a person attempting to do the same in an election would likely be caught by underlying voter protections. The........

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