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BY KRYSTIN E. KASAK
Krystin.Kasak@nwitimes.com
219.548.4353 | Monday, January 07, 2008 | (4 comment(s))
An Indiana law about voting requirements will take center stage Wednesday when the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments about the law that requires voters to show government-issued photo identification at the polls.
Supporters of the law, approved in 2005 by the Republican-led General Assembly, say it prevents voter fraud and bolsters confidence in the election process.
Democrats, however, argue that Indiana's problem with vote fraud resides with absentee ballots, which are not addressed by the statute. They say the law places an unconstitutional burden on voters who are not able to obtain the documentation required for IDs -- mainly the elderly, poor and minorities.
"Whether you're rich or poor in this country, you have the right to vote," said Dan Parker, chairman of the Indiana Democratic Party. "The state of Indiana has no right to take that away."
A federal district court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit previously ruled in favor of the state. Voter identification laws in other states also have been challenged and likely will be affected by the ruling in the two Indiana cases.
Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita said he is proud to have his name attached to the case and believes it has had a positive effect on elections. Rokita cited a recent University of Missouri study that analyzed voter turnout throughout Indiana before and after the law was enacted.
"Voter turnout increased after the photo ID law by 2 percent," Rokita said. "This shows that the law is telling people in the state to come and invest your time in this process because we're doing things to improve it."
Rokita also highlighted the fact that the opposition has not yet been able to produce evidence of people who have been turned away at the polls because of the new law.
Although Democrats have not been able to point to specific people who were unable to vote, Indiana has not been able to cite any cases of voter impersonation that the law would prevent.
Parker maintains these cases don't exist, but Rokita says there is no way to prove it.
"If the court decides to impose a law without any evidence that there's a problem, it's going to be a bad day for democracy in this country," Parker said. "Part of their argument is that the fear of fraud allows the state to put this burden on the people. If the court sees it that way, what's to say the next step is that the state has a fear that people aren't making informed decisions so we're going to implement an IQ test?"
Rokita said even if there were no cases of voter impersonation, the law should stand.
"Why should we as voters and taxpayers wait for a fire before building the firehouse?" Rokita said. "Why do we have to become victims of this before taking action?"
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Wednesday in the two cases, Crawford v. Marion County Election Board and Indiana Democratic Party v. Rokita. A decision should come sometime this summer.
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Supreme Court rules in favor of Americans wrote on Apr 29, 2008 12:19 PM:
Yes, we have to show a photo ID to get on an airplane or rent a movie..now we have to show a photo ID to vote!
Thank you Todd Rokita and Republicans, for helping to make voting more fair. "
Caring Voter wrote on Jan 7, 2008 5:11 PM:
it figures wrote on Jan 7, 2008 2:30 PM:
Robbin Stewart wrote on Jan 7, 2008 11:43 AM:
general elections when he declined to provide photo identification without a warrant or some showing of probable cause. His provisional vote was not counted after he went to the clerkâs office and asked that it be counted, but again declined to show photo identification. Mr. Palmer was denied the right to vote in the 2006 primary election when he was unwilling to show photo identification. Mr. Palmer
was a plaintiff in City of Indianapolis v. Edmond, 531 U.S. 32 (2000)."
Rokita is being misleading if he was accurately quoted: "Rokita also highlighted the fact that the opposition has not yet been able to produce evidence of people who have been turned away at the polls because of the new law." "