Urgent: Contact Your Legislators to Oppose Photo ID 5/5/08
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05/05/08
SAY “NO” TO PHOTO ID AMENDMENTS ____________________________________________________ Some legislators have proposed amendments that would fundamentally alter the right to vote by requiring any person who appears to vote in person to produce photo identification. Our current laws have served Connecticut well, enabling citizens to exercise their right to vote while maintaining the integrity and security of Connecticut’s elections. This is a bad solution in search of a problem.
Ø Proponents of the amendments will claim that a photo ID is necessary to prevent voter fraud – don’t believe them. A recent investigation shows that during the past 15 years the State Elections Enforcement Commission received 39 complaints of voter fraud on Election Day. The SEEC dismissed 29 of those complaints and took action on the remaining 10 (less than 1 per year). Of those 10, few, if any, would have been prevented by requiring a photo ID. Between 2002 and 2005, the United States Department of Justice obtained convictions against 52 individuals for crimes relating to “election fraud.” During the same period, 196,139,871 ballots were cast in federal elections—yielding a proven election fraud rate of 0.00003%.
Ø Although the United State Supreme Court recently ruled in Crawford v. Marion County Election Board that Indiana’s photo identification law is constitutional, the Court’s opinion does not give Connecticut a blank check to pass a photo ID law. The Supreme Court’s decision turned on the fact that government issued photo identification cards can be obtained in Indiana for free.
Ø Just because a law may be constitutional does not mean that it is good policy. The Brennan Center for Justice at the NYU School of Law finds that 11% of the voting age population or 21 million American citizens do not possess government-issued photo identification. Photo ID requirements disproportionately impact young, elderly, disabled, poor and minority voters who may have difficulty obtaining the documents necessary to get a photo ID.
Ø With the state facing a budget deficit, it doesn’t make fiscal sense to ramp up the bureaucracy and provide free photo IDs to all eligible voters—particularly when our current system works so well. Requiring young, non-indigent voters to pay for photo IDs is a form of poll tax.
Ø Photo ID requirements conflict with the Help America Vote Act requirements for federal elections which allow first time voters to produce a photo ID or a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document that shows the name and address of the voter.
Any proposal that raises barriers to voting is a fear-based approach instead of a fact-based solution. The League works closely with the SEEC and the Secretary of the State's office and has not been informed of any evidence of widespread fraud. We agree that we must take action to ensure the integrity of our voting systems. We welcome the opportunity to work with legislators on proposals to address documented problems. The most glaring deficiency in the election process has been the lack of consistency exhibited across the state in following election procedures.
Act on the Facts not on the Fears SAY “NO” TO PHOTO ID For more information, please contact Christine S. Horrigan at cshorrigan@optonline.net
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