[governance] A Clearer Picture on Voter ID

[yehudakatz at mailinator.com]

The New York Times, February 3, 2008
Op-Ed Contributors
A Clearer Picture on Voter ID 
By JIMMY CARTER and JAMES A. BAKER III
nytimes.com

Art. Ref.:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/03/opinion/03carter.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Print:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/03/opinion/03carter.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

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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. What’s 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
Indiana’s 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 University’s 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
commission’s 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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