Voter Id

Little noticed by voters, a nationwide melee has broken out pitting liberal and conservative groups in a duel over new laws that could determine who wins close elections in November and beyond.

The Supreme Court cleared the way Friday for Arizona to enforce a new rule for next month's election that requires most voters to show proof of identification before casting a ballot. In an unsigned and apparently unanimous opinion, the justices reversed a ruling by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco that had blocked the Arizona law from taking effect this year. The justices emphasized that they were not ruling on the still-pending constitutional challenge to the law.

Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue signed into law Friday a bill requiring voters to show government-issued photo identification, an issue so emotional for black legislators that they staged a walkout from the Capitol this spring. The move would give Georgia one of the strictest voter identification laws in the nation.

The Republican-controlled Legislature passed a bill that would require voters to show government-issued photo identification before casting a ballot. Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels has said he will probably sign the measure, which would be one of the most restrictive voter ID laws in the nation.

A dozen nuns and an unknown number of students were turned away from polls Tuesday in the first use of Indiana's stringent voter ID law since it was upheld last week by the U.S. Supreme Court. The nuns, all residents of a retirement home at Saint Mary's Convent near Notre Dame University, were denied ballots by a fellow sister and poll worker because the women, in their 80s and 90s, did not have valid Indiana photo ID cards.

HOUSTON -- Justice Department officials have announced plans to monitor local elections Saturday in three areas of Texas to ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Federal observers will monitor polling places in Dallas, Galveston and Jasper counties, according to a Justice Department statement released Friday. “Observers will watch and record activities during voting hours at polling locations in these counties, and Civil Rights Division attorneys will coordinate the federal activities and maintain contact with local election officials,” the statement said.

Re "Voter ID law upheld," April 29 The Supreme Court has upheld the voter ID law in Indiana, effectively requiring government identification before one can vote. Because voting is a right guaranteed to all citizens, this decision surely must mean that all IDs will be provided by the government absolutely free of charge. One cannot be required to pay in order to exercise a right. Also, the government must provide transportation and compensation for time off so voters can obtain IDs. The government cannot deny rights absent some extreme circumstances, such as national security concerns.

A federal judge in Indianapolis upheld a state law requiring voters to present photo identification, saying it is constitutional and places reasonable restrictions on casting a ballot. Judge Sarah Evans Barker rejected a challenge filed by the Indiana Democratic Party and other groups after the Legislature required voters to show government-issued photo IDs. The challengers didn't show evidence that anyone would be kept from voting under the law, she said.

A federal judge in Atlanta denied a request by voting rights groups to stop Georgia from asking new voters to prove their identities and citizenship, saying that halting the checks could harm the integrity of the election. The groups argued in a lawsuit filed last week that the checks, which involve matching voter applications with driver's license and Social Security data, amount to a "systematic purging" of rolls weeks before the Nov. 4 election. The groups are to press their case before a three-judge panel in U.S. District Court in a hearing scheduled for Wednesday.

It seems that Nativo Lopez of Hermandad Mexicana Nacional "doth protest too much" to the inquiry into the possible illegal activities of "his" taxpayer-funded organization. In fact, we have every right to know if our elections are being systematically subverted by any group, organization or individual, regardless of the smoke screen charges of racism or intimidation so freely thrown around. At a time when banks are beginning to require fingerprints in addition to photo identification in order to cash a check, when we must provide birth certificates and Social Security cards to obtain a driver's license and when birth certificates are required to prove age in order to sign our children up for AYSO soccer, it is obvious that our "honor system" method of voter registration is sadly antiquated.