New Report: ID Law Could Make Voting "Significantly Harder"
Dan McGowan, GoLocalProv News Editor
New Report: ID Law Could Make Voting "Significantly Harder"
New voter ID laws in 14 states could make it significantly harder for more than five million eligible voters to cast ballots in 2012, according to the first comprehensive study of the laws’ impact, produced by the Brennan Center for Justice at the NYU School of Law.
Widespread voting cutbacks could have a significant electoral impact in next year’s election with minorities, poor and young voters most likely to be affected, the study found.
“This is the most significant cutback in voting rights in decades. More voters may be affected than the margin of victory in two out of the past three presidential elections,” said Brennan Center Executive Director Michael Waldman. In 2012 we should make it easier for every eligible citizen to vote. Instead, we have made it far harder for too many. Partisans should not try to tilt the electoral playing field in this way.”
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The study found that Rhode Island’s new law requirements are “significantly less onerous than those in the other states,” noting that voters without an ID can still cast a provisional ballot. Still, 11 percent of American residents do not possess a government issued ID, and there is concern that voters may simply not show up to the polls if they fear they’ll be turned away.
Ocean State Action Executive Director called the national surge of restrictions on the right to vote “troubling.”
“Rhode Island's law may be the least bad of a long list of bad laws, but if even one Rhode Island voter is disenfranchised our democracy suffers,” Brock said. “Ultimately, the devil is in the details of the implementation process. We're still waiting to see how IDs will be distributed, how poll workers will be trained and what measures will be put into place to ensure proper treatment of provisional ballots. The Rhode Island Presidential Primary is only months away, leaving little time for the necessary voter education and ID distribution. We remain gravely concerned about the impact on voters in Rhode Island and across the nation."
Proponents of the new laws say they are needed to combat voter fraud. An earlier Brennan Center study, The Truth About Voter Fraud, showed that such in-person voter impersonation is exceedingly rare. “You are more likely to be struck by lightning than to commit in-person voter fraud,” Waldman noted.
But when he signed the bill into law, Governor Chafee said he found concerns over voter fraud to be compelling.
“As the General Assembly debated legislation requiring Rhode Island voters to present valid identification at the polls, I met with a number of experts on both sides to discuss this complex issue,” Chafee said. “Notably, I spoke with representatives of our state’s minority communities, and I found their concerns about voter fraud and their support for this bill particularly compelling."
New Law Eliminates Confusion
Other states also passed proof of citizenship laws, eliminated Election Day registration and reduced early and absentee voting rules. But Rhode Island’s new law is likely to be the least damaging, according to the study.
State Rep. Jon Brien, a Democrat who sponsored the bill in the House, said the new law is likely to affect turnout at the polls.
“Voting is one of the most important rights and duties that we have as Americans and it should be treated accordingly,” he said. “You have to have an ID to do just about anything today, from opening a bank account to getting a gym membership. But you don’t have to prove you are who you say you are to make use of your most important constitutional right. This new law will eliminate confusion of individuals at the polls and reduce fraud without causing a significant imposition on voters.”
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