Debate heats up over voter ID laws

WASHINGTON -- Mississippi has joined the growing number of states adopting tougher voter ID laws, a trend that promises to fuel an intense battle over how such laws may affect voter turnout in the 2012 elections.

"It's boiling over," said Jennie Bowser, a senior election policy analyst at the National Conference of State Legislatures. "People on both sides of the aisle are very protective of elections. They regard it as the cornerstone of American democracy. ''

Nearly 200 mostly Democratic lawmakers, including Rep. Bennie Thompson of Bolton, recently wrote state election officials urging them to not to let the new laws jeopardize voters' rights.

Democrats and civil rights groups warn that millions of voters, mostly minorities, may be turned away at the polls next year if they don't have the required ID.

"Voting rights are under attack in America,'' said Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga. The new laws are "slowly robbing Americans of a basic constitutional right,'' he said.

Supporters of the laws, mostly Republicans, say they help prevent fraudulent practices such as casting ballots under the names of dead people.

"What I hope it accomplishes in Mississippi is … fairer and more open, honest elections,'' said Republican state Sen. Joey Fillingane, who worked to get the state's new law on Tuesday's ballot.

He said the new law isn't a cure-all, but "it will keep people in the cemetery from voting.''

Both sides are awaiting decisions from the U.S. Justice Department on whether new voter ID laws in Texas and South Carolina violate a section of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Under the law, certain states with a history of discriminatory voting practices must get approval from Justice Department officials before making election changes.

The department's decision on the Texas law is due Dec. 5. Its decision on the South Carolina law is due Dec. 27. Mississippi will have to submit its plan to the department or to U.S district court in Washington.

The Texas decision will be the first ruling on a voter ID law under the Obama administration.

"There is some question about whether DOJ under the Obama administration might take a different view than DOJ under the Bush administration," Bowser said. "They're not tipping their hand at all.''

Mississippi is the 31st state to approve a tougher voter ID law during the last decade, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The measure approved Tuesday, if approved by the Justice Department or the courts, would require voters to show a government-issued photo ID when they go to the polls.

Some groups, including the NAACP and the American Civil Liberties Union, are considering whether to challenge the law in court. They say its language is vague and it could suppress minority turnout.

State election officials said a possible legal challenge was factored into the $1.5 million estimated cost of implementing the law, which was modeled after a 2005 law enacted in Indiana.

Indiana and Georgia were among the first states to enact voter ID laws. Georgia adopted its law in 2006. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld Indiana's law in 2008.

Eight states — Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin — now require government-issued photo IDs to vote, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Seven states — Alabama, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, Michigan and South Dakota— request photo IDs, but voters may cast a ballot if they can meet other criteria.

Sixteen states also now require some form of identification to vote, but not necessarily photo IDs.

The trend toward more stringent laws affecting voter IDs and other election issues isn't surprising, said Doug Chapin, an elections expert at the University of Minnesota.

"It's really more about the 2010 election," Chapin said. "It has as much to do with the fact that there are so many new Republican legislatures and governors across the country. Republicans generally tend to favor voter ID.''

Chapin said the partisan debate over voter ID laws isn't new.

"The biggest difference is (now) we've got something tangible to fight about,'' he said.

Proponents of the new laws deny they'll have a discriminatory impact or dampen voter turnout.

"It's not onerous,'' state Sen. Fillingane said. "Most states … have come to the conclusion that one person, one vote really means that.''

The best way to prevent ineligible voters from casing ballots "is by requiring individuals to authenticate their citizenship when they register to vote and their identity when they show up at the polls,'' said Hans von Spakovsky, a former Justice Department official under the Bush administration.

Democrats and civil rights groups counter that the new laws could turn away voters, particularly minorities, the elderly and the poor. They say those groups are less likely to have government-issued IDs or access to information to get those IDs.

They liken the ID requirement to a poll tax once used in the South to suppress the black vote.

"People were beaten, arrested and even killed trying to defend the right to vote,'' said Lewis, a civil rights icon. "We must not go back. We want to move forward. That's why we can't be silent now.''

The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law recently released a report saying the new laws could make it harder for more than 5 million voters to cast ballots by requiring government-issued photo IDs or proof of citizenship, or by reducing times for early voting.

Democrats have called for a hearing on whether the state laws are constitutional and violate the spirit of the Voting Rights Act. They are considering introducing legislation to nullify the impact of the state laws, but acknowledge such an effort would almost certainly be doomed in the Republican-controlled House.

"We don't delude ourselves,'' said Democratic Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the House minority whip. "I'm not sure we'll be successful with legislation, but legislation is certainly an option."

Mississippi Republican Rep. Gregg Harper introduced a bill earlier this year to eliminate the Election Assistance Commission, which he said had outlived its usefulness. The independent bipartisan group was created to help states implement the 2002 Help America Vote Act, designed to improve state election systems.

That law is one of the few major election measures that Congress has approved in recent years.

The Constitution gives most election-related power to the states, Bowser said.

"There are not a whole lot of federal laws involved in elections,'' she said.