Why Tuesday? Board Member Norman J. Ornstein

One of the most interesting and significant recent Supreme Court decisions concerned the Indiana voter identification law, in which the court by a 6-3 vote upheld the law despite zero evidence of in-person voting fraud in the state. In a major surprise, Justice John Paul Stevens led the opinion, saying the state’s interest in preventing such fraud justifies the Legislature’s action. Stevens did leave the door open to challenges to other states’ laws if they create too much of a burden on many voters.

Indiana’s law was better by far than the awful Georgia law that was overturned by the courts; in Indiana, the state would provide voters with the appropriate government-issue photo ID for free, while Georgia charged a significant fee, the equivalent of a poll tax. But Indiana’s requirements are plenty burdensome.

Elections need to be fair, and fraud is a real concern, especially in an era where the stakes are very high and the parties are close enough that many elections will be decided by razor-thin margins.

If a person cannot present a passport, driver’s license or other similar form of official identification, he or she must supply an official document, such as a birth certificate, to get the free ID, and getting a copy of a birth certificate is quite costly. The fact is that many elderly people and many poor people don’t drive, don’t fly and don’t have copies of their birth certificates. (more…)

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In our latest vlog, we look into the Indiana voter ID law upheld by the Supreme Court eight days ago. It looks as though on this Tuesday, the law has resulted in at least two dozen South Bend voters being turned away from the polls — all nuns in their 80s and 90s.

The AP is reporting the nuns were told before voting they would need an ID that was valid under the voter ID law.

Sister Julie McGuire said she was forced to turn away her fellow members of Saint Mary’s Convent in South Bend, across the street from the University of Notre Dame, because they had been told earlier that they would need such an ID to vote.

Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita released a statement after learning of the incident.

Indiana’s Voter ID Law applies to everyone. From all accounts that we’ve heard, the sisters were aware of the photo ID requirements and chose not to follow them.

What do you think about requiring voters to show photo ID at the polls? For an interesting perspective, listen to Loyola Law School distinguished professor Rick Hasen in our aforementioned vlog.

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Larry Rohter and Michael M. Grynbaum report high turnout — perhaps record high turnout — in Indiana and North Carolina.

“I’ve seen people I thought had passed on to glory, and young folks that sit around and usually don’t care,” said Carlotta Blake-King, an elections judge at a polling place in Hammond.

Election Day Tuesday is almost over. Do you know why we vote on Tuesday? Here’s the answer.

Posted in Election 2008, Election Reform, Indiana, North Carolina | Comments Off

Tuesday May 6, 2008 Indiana and North Carolina vote. Do you know why we vote on Tuesday? If you’re wondering, you’re not alone. We have the answer.

Drawing for the New York Times by Jason Logan.

Posted in Chris Rock, Election 2008, Election Reform, Indiana, North Carolina, Why do we vote on Tuesday? | Comments Off

Linda Greenhouse, from the Supreme Court, reports for the New York Times that the justices’ actions yesterday indicate they might uphold Indiana’s voter ID law, and further, make it more difficult for similar cases to be brought in the future. She writes:

The justices’ questioning indicated that a majority did not accept the challengers’ basic argument — that voter-impersonation fraud is not a problem, so requiring voters to produce government-issued photo identification at the polls is an unconstitutional burden on the right to vote.

Stay tuned here for updates. For the complete article and an in-depth analysis, click here.

Previously:
Our Voter ID requirement archive

Posted in Election Reform, Indiana, Voter ID requirements | 2 Comments »