When an appellate court shut down Indiana’s unequal mandate for polling-place voter ID, it sent a clear signal that—partisan politics aside—election laws should be assessed on whether or not all voters are given equal access to the democratic process. Yet, despite violations of law and the fact that absentee voting is more susceptible to voter fraud activity than in-person voting, other states continue to emulate what was one of the country’s toughest voter ID laws.
While it has long been held (and proven) by voting rights advocates that voter ID is harmful to voters that do not have or cannot obtain required ID (primarily young, low income, and minority voters), the Indiana court’s recent decision was based on entirely different criteria. The case was brought on the argument that “Indiana’s Constitution requires all voters to be treated uniformly, and that the ID law treats absentee voters and in-person voters differently,” wrote Sheila Kennedy, a professor of law and public policy at the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs in an Indianapolis Star opinion editorial Monday.
“The court unanimously agreed. If the legislature wants to keep the law, in other words, it’ll have to apply it to all voters, not just those who show up in person.”
However, “partisan politics” shroud the very simple argument that all voters should have the law applied fairly as voter ID supporters scramble to keep the voter ID battle afloat.
In response to Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniel’s declaration that the judges’ decision was “preposterous…partisan politics,” Kennedy wrote that his “rhetoric is unfortunate on a number of levels. It betrays unfamiliarity with the arguments involved, and — worse — paints judges as no more than partisans in robes. Such attacks, as the Indiana Bar Association pointed out, undermine the legitimacy of the judicial system.”
“In other words,” she wrote, “the judges weren’t the ones playing politics.”
This year, 25 states introduced variations of Indiana’s law in their own legislatures. Many failed to see the light of day, but battles are expected in at least five states next year, including Oklahoma, Kansas, Minnesota, Tennessee, and Mississippi.
Mississippi has battled voter ID in the state legislature for years and—in an attempt to circumvent the legislature in 2010—had plans to put an initiative on the state ballot for voters to decide. However, last week, Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann announced that a Republican sponsored voter ID referendum would not be on the ballot until November 2011 due to complications with state law regarding signature gathering, according to the Associated Press. Hosemann’s office collected almost 19,000 signatures while the state Republican Party has 40,000. Ninety thousand signatures are required to put the voter ID initiative on the ballot.
The postponement of the referendum is raising suspicions among some. “With statewide elections coming in 2011, GOP officials may be counting on a voter ID referendum to help boost its turnout,” a Mississippi publication, the Greenwood Commonwealth editorialized Monday. “There is arguably a lot more at stake for the party in 2011 than the congressional elections in 2010.
“That said, the delay could serve a useful purpose if it focuses the public’s attention and that of lawmakers on where the problem of voter fraud really lies — absentee balloting.”