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Tuesday, October 05, 2010
Courts - "Should the state require you to show ID to vote?"
This question is now an issue in Kansas. Rick Plumlee of the Wichita Eagle has a very long story today examining all sides of the question. Here is a sample:
Missouri had a strict photo ID law, but it was struck down in October 2006 by the state Supreme Court.Rep. Kinzer suggested that Kansas should pattern its law after Georgia's or Indiana's.
Both those states have withstood legal challenges to their ID laws, although Georgia is back before the state Supreme Court after the state's Democratic Party argued that the law does nothing to prevent voter fraud and violates the state constitution.
A U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2008 upheld the constitutionality of Indiana's law. But observers say the court likely would have ruled against Indiana if it had not provided a free voter identity card to those who don't have acceptable identification.
Those who mail in ballots don't have to meet the same photo ID requirements as those who vote at the polls, even though most experts agree that voter fraud is most likely to happen with mail-in ballots.
Earlier this year the League of Women Voters challenged the Indiana requirement in state Supreme Court, arguing that the law violates the state constitution because it imposed a requirement on some voters but not all. The challenge failed.
Increasingly, more people are mailing in ballots. Kansas hit 35 percent in 2008.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on October 5, 2010 08:15 AM
Posted to Courts in general