[IP] A Clearer Picture on Voter ID - New York Times
David Farber
dfarber at cs.cmu.edu
Sun Feb 3 05:46:46 PST 2008
#[1]alternate [2]NYTimes.com Opinion RSS
February 3, 2008
Op-Ed Contributors
A Clearer Picture on Voter ID
By JIMMY CARTER and JAMES A. BAKER III
THIS is a major election year. Unfortunately, our two major political
parties Democratic and Republican continue to disagree on some of the
rules that apply to the administration of our elections. This divide
is perhaps most contentious when the issue becomes one of whether
voters should present photo identification to vote.
Twenty-seven states require or request some form of ID to vote.
Supporters of this policy argue that if voters identify themselves
before voting, election fraud will be reduced. Opponents of an ID
requirement fear it will disenfranchise voters, especially the poor,
members of minority groups and the elderly, who are less likely than
other voters to have suitable identification. The debate is polarized
because most of the proponents are Republicans and most of the
opponents are Democrats.
In 2005, we led a bipartisan Commission on Federal Election Reform and
concluded that both parties concerns were legitimate a free and fair
election requires both ballot security and full access to voting. We
offered a proposal to bridge the partisan divide by suggesting a
uniform voter photo ID, based on the federal Real ID Act of 2005, to
be phased in over five years. To help with the transition, states
would provide free voter photo ID cards for eligible citizens; mobile
units would be sent out to provide the IDs and register voters. (Of
the 21 members of the commission, only three dissented on the
requirement for an ID.)
No state has yet accepted our proposal. Whats more, when it comes to
ID laws, confusion reigns. The laws on the books, mainly backed by
Republicans, have not made it easy enough for voters to acquire an ID.
At the same time, Democrats have tended to try to block voter ID
legislation outright instead of seeking to revise that legislation to
promote accessibility. When lower courts have considered challenges to
state laws on the question of access, their decisions have not been
consistent. And in too many instances, individual judges have appeared
to vote along partisan lines.
Fortunately, the Supreme Court has taken on a case involving a
challenge to Indianas voter ID law. The court, which heard arguments
last month and is expected to render a judgment this term, has the
power finally to bring clarity to this crucial issue. A study by
American Universitys Center for Democracy and Election Management led
by Robert Pastor, who also organized the voting commission illustrates
the problem at hand. The center found that in three states with ID
requirements Indiana, Mississippi and Maryland only about 1.2 percent
of registered voters lacked a photo ID. While the sample was small,
and the margin of error was therefore high, we were pleased to see
that so few registered voters lacked photo IDs. That was pretty good
news.
The bad news, however, was this: While the numbers of registered
voters without valid photo IDs were few, the groups least likely to
have them were women, African-Americans and Democrats. Surveys in
other states, of course, may well present a different result.
We hope the court will approach the challenges posed by the Indiana
law in a bipartisan or nonpartisan way. As we stated in our 2005
report, voter ID laws are not a problem in and of themselves. Rather,
the current crop of laws are not being phased in gradually and in a
fair manner that would increase not reduce voter participation. The
recent decision by the Department of Homeland Security to delay
putting in place the Real ID Act for at least five years suggests that
states should move to photo ID requirements gradually and should do
more to ensure that free photo IDs are easily available.
The Supreme Court faces a difficult and important decision. If the
justices divide along partisan lines, as lower courts have, they would
add to the political polarization in the country. We hope that they
will find a nonpartisan path that combines both legitimate concerns
ballot security and full access to voting and underscores the
importance of applying these laws in a fair and gradual way. It is
also important to remember that our commissions report addressed other
pressing election concerns. There is much more that Congress and state
legislatures need to do to improve the electoral process and restore
confidence in our democracy. We have outlined 87 such steps in our
commission report.
In the meantime, the Supreme Court can lead the way on the voter ID
issue. It has the opportunity to inspire the states, our national
leaders and the entire country to bridge the partisan divide on a
matter that is important to our democracy. It can support voter ID
laws that make it easy to vote but tough to cheat.
Jimmy Carter was the 39th president. James A. Baker III was the
secretary of state in the George H. W. Bush administration.
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