Supreme Court to Hear Voter ID Case

Jan. 8, 2008— -- The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments Wednesday in a case that raises the question of whether requiring a voter to have a government-issued photo ID unfairly impacts poor and minority voters.

Many question whether the case, which will be decided before the end of the Court's term in June, will have an impact on the turnout of those voters for the 2008 presidential election.

The U.S. Court of Appeals upheld a 2005 Indiana law that would require all voters to show ID before being able to vote. Judge Richard Posner, a prominent judge who sits on the bench in the Seventh Circuit, said it would be impossible for a person to exist in society today without an ID, saying, "Try flying or entering a tall building."

The National Committee on Election Reform said that 6 to 10 percent of eligible voters don't have valid IDs -- perhaps as many as 20 million Americans. Most of them are poor, getting by with no identification at all. They don't drive, they don't have bank accounts and they don't fly.

Only a few states have voter identification laws but the Indiana Democratic Party -- one of the petitioners -- said that Indiana's requirements are the most restrictive.

To get an ID in the state, you must have a validated birth certificate and two other forms of identification. An Indiana state employee has testified that as many as 60 percent of applicants for IDs are turned away because of improper documentation.

Those arguing for the voter identification law say that they are concerned about inflated voter registration lists and nationwide reports of in-person voter fraud.

Thomas Fisher, Indiana's Solicitor General, will argue the case before the court. He says that the point of the law "is being able to protect and deter individuals who would come in and vote in another's name. We have in Indiana, unfortunately, inflated voter registration lists."

In documents submitted to the court, they cite a 2000 Indianapolis Star report that found 300 dead people on the registered voter list, which Fisher contends is the worst in the country. There is, however, no evidence of anyone having been prosecuted for impersonating a registered voter.