would have to bring an ID to their local clerks office within 10 days of an election in order for their vote to count.
The legislation seeks to protect the integrity of every single Michigan citizens vote because every vote is diluted if fraudulent votes are cast" said Rep. Gary Glenn (R-Midland).
Current state law allows registered voters to cast a ballot without Photo Identification if they sign an affidavit affirming their identity under threat of perjury. This option was used by 18388 residents in Novembers Election according to the Michigan Secretary of State.
Nearly half of those voters were in Wayne County including 5834 in the City of Detroit.
The main measure in the three-bill package passed the Michigan House in a 57-50 vote mostly along party lines. The measure immediately headed to the Michigan State Senate with just days left in a state Lame-Duck Session.
Democrats argued the voter identification proposal would have a disproportionate effect on lower-income and minority voters creating new barriers to participation for those who may struggle to obtain identification for various reasons.
But the package seeks to make it easier for Michigan residents to obtain the kind of identification that would be required to vote. The legislation would provide mechanisms for low-income residents to obtain free State ID Cards or Birth Certificates necessary to obtain one.
The legislation includes an $8 million appropriation to finance election modernization voter education and implementation" of the new rules $2 million for free birth certificates and $1 million for the free ID program. The appropriations would effectively make the law immune to voter referendum.
We want everyone to be able to vote easily but we want them to know their vote is being protected" said sponsoring State Rep. Lisa Lyons chair of the House Elections Committee who said the Michigan proposal is based upon an Indiana law upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2005.
This legislation is simple: In order to have your vote count you must prove you are who you say you are" Lyons said.
The legislation would make Michigan one of eight states with a strict Voter ID Law according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Federal Appeals Court Upholds Virginia Voter ID Law A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld a Virginia law requiring that voters show a photo ID when voting at the polls rejecting a challenge from State Democrats who argued that the law suppresses voting by minorities and young people. The ruling comes just months after a different panel of the same court struck down a North Carolina law that required voters to produce a Photo ID and also scrapped same-day registration and shortened early voting periods. The three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the law does not violate the Voting Rights Act or impose an unconstitutional burden on the right to vote. But the panel that issued Tuesdays ruling found that the facts in the North Carolina case are in no way like those in the passage of Virginias bill.
Virginians have had to show some form of identification to vote for decades but until 2012 people without an ID were still allowed to cast a ballot if they signed a form swearing theyre the person they claimed to be. In 2012 a law scrapped the Affirmation of Identity Option but allowed voters to use certain non-photo IDs. A year later the GOP-controlled General Assembly passed the law requiring photo IDs.
Virginia Democrats claimed that the Photo ID Law was a response to shifting demographics that helped President Barack Obama win Virginia in back-to-back elections. But the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel disagreed writing
The law was passed by the Virginia Legislature through the normal legislative process and that process was unaccompanied by any facts or circumstances suggesting the presence of racially discriminatory intent.
Emily Bolton communications director of the Democratic Party of Virginia said the party is disappointed by the courts decision and is contemplating its next steps in the litigation. We remain fully committed to fighting unnecessary burdens on the right to vote in the Commonwealth she said. Virginians can obtain free photo IDs at voter registrar offices but Democrats have argued that few people know about that option because the state has done little to make it known. Much of the debate before the 4th Circuit centered on how Virginias law and its implementation differ from North Carolinas. The 4th Circuit noted in its ruling that the Virginia legislature went out of its way to make its impact as burden-free as possible.It allowed a broad scope of IDs to qualify; it provided free IDs to those who lacked a qualifying ID; it issued free IDs without any requirement of presenting documentation; and it provided numerous locations throughout the State where free IDs could be obtained said the Court in its ruling.
