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INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled that Indiana's voter identification law is unconstitutional. 6News is looking through the 29-page ruling now and will provide details from it as soon as possible. The decision comes after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the state's voter ID law in 2008, a week before the presidential primary, in a splintered 6-3 ruling. Backers of the law, which requires a voter to present a photo identification to cast a ballot, said it curbs voter fraud. Those against the law contend that it keeps poor, older and minority voters from casting ballots. The...

A long-time federal prosecutor once told me that as long as elections put people into positions where they can make decisions about how much the government will spend, who will receive the money, and how the government will exercise its power, elections will be important enough to tempt some individuals to steal them. As the Supreme Court recognized when it upheld the constitutionality of Indiana's voter identification law in 2008, flagrant examples of voter fraud "have been documented throughout this Nation's history by respected historians and journalists." Those examples "demonstrate that not only is the risk of voter fraud...

This is Congressman Eugene Green (HT to an e-mailer), Democrat from Texas, telling the world that if you're not from his District, you're not welcome at his future town hall meetings -- oh, and how he'll enforce his new rule (bold is his): This is how Gene Green has voted on laws relating to requiring photo identification to vote (from the web site "On the Issues"): Any questions? Oh, I do have a couple: • How many dozen other Congressmen who oppose voter ID laws are going to hypocritically enforce voter-ID rules at their town halls -- And does that...

This is Congressman Eugene Green (HT to an e-mailer), Democrat from Texas, telling the world that if you're not from his District, you're not welcome at his future town hall meetings -- oh, and how he'll enforce his new rule (bold is his):

Tuning in to President Obama's health care town hall today, you couldn't help but notice how much tamer the line of questioning was compared to what Obama's fellow Democrats have been up against. By and large, instead of the persistent tough queries that greeted the likes of Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Arlen Specter (D-Penn.), the president fielded much easier questions. The toughest questioner tried to tag him on his earlier comments approving of a government-run "single-payer" system but unfortunately couldn't get the point of distinction between it and the much more amorphous "universal" health care system, thus allowing Obama to...

"...requiring voters to show some form of ID could send Texas to the end of the line in future national rankings because it would depress turnout among Latinos, the state's fastest-growing demographic group. Anchía heard mountains of testimony about voter fraud as a member of the elections committee for three legislative sessions and as chairman of a subcommittee investigating voter fraud. "Voter fraud exists in Texas, but voter impersonation does not," he said. Most of the voter fraud occurs with mail-in ballots, he said, but the voter ID bills introduced in the last regular session offered no remedy to combat...

MEXICO CITY – President Felipe Calderon says Mexico will start issuing nationwide identity cards for its citizens starting this year, and by 2012 everyone will have one. The cards will carry the bearer's photograph. It will also include information on fingerprints and biometric data, including facial and iris scans, on a magnetic strip. Most Mexicans currently use their voter ID cards for identification. They contain a photo, signature and one fingerprint. They will continue to be issued. Interior Secretary Fernando Gomez Mont said Tuesday the new cards will help in the fight against organized crime, and ensure transparency in government...

he U.S. Supreme Court has decided not to hear an appeal to the oft-challenged Georgia law that requires voters to show photo identification before they cast their ballots. (from AP) Mods edit as necessary

A group of Progreso residents was advised not to testify in favor of a divisive voter identification measure Tuesday for fear their allegations could threaten an ongoing investigation into election fraud in their city. The fifteen individuals had hoped to join hundreds of other witnesses who spoke before the Texas House Elections Committee during a two-day hearing on the proposed legislation. But after driving to Austin they learned the Texas Attorney General's Office and committee members had agreed to avoid discussion of the Progreso case. "It was disappointing," said Marilu Ybarra, a local activist who has become something of a...

AUSTIN — One of the most politically divisive fights the Legislature will confront this year gets its first full-fledged airing today as state senators have it out over whether voters should be required to show photo or other ID when they cast a ballot. On one side are Republicans who contend the change would protect the integrity of Texas elections and remove any possibility of voter impersonation or fraud. Democrats proffer a different view: The move is nothing more than an attempt to suppress voting by minorities, the elderly and disabled. The state's Democratic senators successfully blocked a voter photo...

A bill that would require voters to present a photo ID at the polls won key approval from the S.C. House on Thursday, but not before House Democrats — equating the proposal to segregation-era efforts to disenfranchise voters — walked out. About 30 members of the Legislative Black Caucus and other House Democrats staged the walkout as debate moved into its fourth hour and it became clear the bill would pass. “You’ve made it clear it’s your way or the highway,” state Rep. David Weeks, chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus, said to House Republicans, moments before the walkout. “There...

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - Members of the Legislative Black Caucus left the State House in protest over the plan to require voters to show photo identification to prove who they are at polling precincts. The debate was under way Thursday on the House floor. The measure requires voters to show a valid driver's license, passport, military ID or state identification card. It removes the current $5 fee for the cards issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles. Rep. Alan Clemmons argues it's a voter integrity issue. The Myrtle Beach Republican says federal court rulings about similar laws in other states...

. . . According to the left, voter ID was a dastardly Republican plot to prevent Democrats from winning elections by suppressing the votes of minorities, particularly African-Americans. . . . numerous academic studies show that voter ID had no effect on the turnout of voters in prior elections. The plaintiffs in every unsuccessful lawsuit filed against such state requirements could not produce a single individual who didn't either already have an ID or couldn't easily get one. The two states with the strictest voter ID requirements are Indiana and Georgia. Both require a government-issued photo ID . . ....

AUSTIN — Texas voters could soon be required to present a photo ID before casting a ballot during elections, but the measure won't be approved without a major partisan fight in the state Legislature. Voter ID, as its known at the capitol, may not be a top concern for recession-weary Texans. But it's a huge deal in the Legislature, where Republicans say it's crucial to stop ballot fraud and Democrats complain it's all about erecting hurdles to keep their base voters away from the polls. This week Senate Republicans — who have a 19-12 majority in the chamber — forced...

ATLANTA (AP) - A three-judge federal panel has upheld a Georgia law that requires voters to present government-issued photo identification before they cast their ballots. The panel ruled Wednesday "that the burden imposed by the requirement of photo identification is outweighed by the interests of Georgia in safeguarding the right to vote." Democrats have long targeted the law, which they fear could disenfranchise poor and minority voters. They also contend the state had no evidence of voter fraud to back up the new rules. State elections officials say the law helps prevent voter fraud. Republican Secretary of State Karen Handel...

Heard on the radio this morning, from the Chicago Police Department spokesman, that *2* forms of identification will be required to enter Barack Obama's election night soiree' - known in these parts as "Obamapalooza". Spokesman said bring your photo ID and a postmarked letter which has been mailed to you with your address - and it had better match your photo ID. You don't even need 2 forms of ID to vote in the election!

JACKSON, MS (WLBT) - Mississippi's voter situation is hard to believe. Places like Madison County have over 123% more registered voters than people over the age of 18. Sue Sautermeister, First District Election Commissioner in Madison County, tried to purge the rolls, but ran into trouble when it was discovered it takes a vote of three of the five election commissioners and the purge cannot take place within 90 days of a federal election. Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann is the first to admit the situation with voter registration in this state is terrible. "It is terrible," he says. "Combined...

Indiana's voter registration law, which requires a photo identification at the polls, is considered to be perhaps the strictest such law in the nation. Now, it also may prove to be the one that is the most reassuring to Hoosiers. Indeed, if there is any attempt at voter identity theft in Indiana, as is being alleged in multiple states, the Hoosier registration law may prove to be the strongest counter measure anywhere. In short, Indiana's registration law, often criticized by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Indiana Democratic Party, requires that the voter have a photo identification issued by...

Demand Emergency legislation that requires ALL voters to show a valid photo ID . You have to have an ID to fly , you should have to have one to vote ! Please sign the Petition. Thank You

What do Barack Obama, Cynthia Tucker and the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) have in common? I’ll tell you a few facts and you decide. I’ll try not to load my words, as Cynthia Tucker did in her Sunday column blasting voter ID laws as the product of “pseudo-facts” and “overhyped allegations of voter fraud.” Readers of my column will, I hope, be outraged by their own thinking, not feelings emanating from pejorative terms. My introduction to ACORN was in the 1990s. When the savings and loan debacle occurred and large numbers of S&Ls had to be...

Red flags on voter records may lead to nothing Tuesday, October 7, 2008 3:02 AM By Mark Niquette THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH DispatchPolitics After new voters in Ohio provide a driver's license number or part of their Social Security number to register, an automatic computer check is done to determine whether that information matches existing state or federal records. But when the numbers don't match, what happens? Virtually nothing. The lack of follow-through has become the latest legal dispute between Democratic Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner and Republicans, especially with Ohioans able to register to vote and immediately cast an absentee...

The base of the Republican Party — a dwindling but still significant group — clings to a handful of pseudo-facts that don’t hold up to serious scrutiny but that still occupy a central place in GOP ideology. Those include the assertion that Saddam Hussein represented a threat to the United States, that affirmative action in lending led to the mortgage crisis and that voter fraud is a serious problem in modern elections. In campaign seasons such as this, when victory may turn on a handful of votes, none of those claims is more important to Republican activists than overhyped allegations...

This afternoon, my niece accompanied her boyfriend to vote and he was not asked for id. I happened to do a quick google search to research how early voting worked and ran across two other incidents of no id being required. Daily Kos members were sharing their early voting experience and were surprised no one asked for id. Here are the excerpts: Then, you have to fill out another, almost identical "Identity Form." Same deal, provide either the last four digits of your SSN or your entire driver's license number. Since I am a square looking, elderly white guy, they...

TALLAHASSEE -- About 3,200 new voters are in the cross-hairs of Florida's new and controversial ''no-match'' law, which could force them to cast provisional ballots on Election Day if officials can't confirm their identities. The law, designed to prevent potential election fraud and remove joke names from voter rolls -- ''Ricco Suave'' and ''Joe Blow'' among them -- requires local elections officials to mail letters to anyone whose registration information doesn't match the state's driver's license or Social Security databases. Only those who registered after Sept. 8 are affected. Since then, 71,000 new Florida voters have registered through Monday, according...

It used to be much harder to keep track of visitors who came into and out of B.M. Williams Primary School. People were asked to sign their names into a visitors' book in the office, but the signatures often were hard to read, said Principal Craig Mills. Sometimes there would be a last name, but only a first initial. And what if someone gave a fake name? No more. Now, every visitor who walks into B.M. Williams must produce identification for a machine that will record the information, compare it with the national sex-offender registry, then record how long the...

A lawsuit demanding Wisconsin election officials verify voters' identity before the November election could lead to frustration at the polls and exhausted clerks in a hotly contested state in the presidential race. Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen's lawsuit, filed Wednesday, demands that the state Government Accountability Board order election clerks to confirm the identities of potentially tens of thousands of voters — and possibly many more — who have registered since Jan. 1, 2006. The work would have to be done by Election Day, Nov. 4. Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi has scheduled a Sept. 19 hearing in the...

‘Jim Crawford’ RepublicansThe GOP is working to keep eligible African-Americans from voting in several states. Jonathan Alter Newsweek Web Exclusive Updated: 2:37 PM ET Sep 11, 2008 It was a mainstay of Jim Crow segregation: for 100 years after the Civil War, Southern white Democrats kept eligible blacks from voting with poll taxes, literacy tests and property requirements. Starting in the 1960s, the U.S. Supreme Court declared these assaults on the heart of American democracy unconstitutional. Now, with the help of a 2008 Supreme Court decision, Crawford vs. Marion County (Indiana) Election Board, white Republicans in some areas will keep...

TALLAHASSEE — State elections officials will resume enforcement of a controversial state law that requires Floridians to have their identification match up with a state or federal database in order to register to vote. Secretary of State Kurt Browning sent notice to the state's 67 supervisors of elections on Friday that the 2006 law, which has been on hold for the last year pending court rulings, would take effect again Sept. 8. The result is that voters whose identification doesn't match with state files on Election Day will be given a provisional ballot and two days to prove their identity...

Clovis native Rebecca Sitterly registered to vote soon after returning to her native state in 1979 and jumped right into Democratic politics about the same time. So the former Bernalillo County district judge was surprised to get a July 3 call from a community nonprofit that was checking on her new registration. When Sitterly said she hadn't filled out a registration form (indeed, she'd been regularly voting in the same place on Mountain Road NW in Albuquerque for nearly 20 years) a supervisor with the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now promised to destroy the card, Sitterly said in...

When Chicago GOP's Tom Swiss alerted IR to the possibility that Cook County was sending voter registrars to a huge immigration rally this weekend, it reminded us of the serious allegations we ran across in 2006. In August of 2006, we first realized the heated nature of registering illegal aliens to vote while working on a registration drive among churches in the 6th CD. When IR questioned a report in the Chicago Tribune about Congressman Luis Gutierrez (D-4th CD) encouraging illegals to register to vote, a blog controversy erupted as Illinois Coalition of Immigrant and Refugee Rights blasted us for...

Georgia Democrats just can't take no for an answer. Despite a recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court upholding the constitutionality of requiring voters to produce state-issued picture IDs at the polls, the Democratic Party of Georgia has filed a new lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the state's voter ID law. Snip

As the Indiana polls opened at 6:00 am on May 6, opponents of Indiana’s Photo ID law eagerly anticipated word from our more than 5,500 precincts that the state’s requirement that all voters show a photo ID at the polls was causing havoc. It’s what they told the United States Supreme Court would happen. To them, it was time to watch Indiana’s most highly anticipated presidential primary in generations collapse under the weight of the requirement. In Indiana, our election officials and voters are fully committed to increasing confidence in and the integrity of our elections. We have invested a...

In America, you need to show identification to buy alcohol, get into a bar, or apply for a job. Yet, for some reason, liberal media members think that Republicans who advocate voter ID laws do so exclusively to prevent Democrats from going to polling booths.

HARRISBURG -- Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld Indiana's law requiring voters to present photo identification, state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe wants to enact the same kind of law in Pennsylvania. The Cranberry Republican has introduced House Bill 2519, which would require anyone wishing to vote to show one of several forms of photo ID when arriving at a polling place: a valid driver's license issued by PennDOT; a valid state or federal government employee ID; a valid employee ID card issued by an employer; a valid U.S. passport, student ID or armed forces ID; a voter ID card...

Cannot be posted due to copyright issues: http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080511/NEWS01/805110367

The battle over voting rights will expand this week as lawmakers in Missouri are expected to support a proposed constitutional amendment to enable election officials to require proof of citizenship from anyone registering to vote. The measure would allow far more rigorous demands than the voter ID requirement recently upheld by the Supreme Court, in which voters had to prove their identity with a government-issued card. Sponsors of the amendment — which requires the approval of voters to go into effect, possibly in an August referendum — say it is part of an effort to prevent illegal immigrants from affecting...

JEFFERSON CITY — Voters could decide whether to enact a photo ID requirement for voting under a proposed constitutional amendment given first-round approval Wednesday by the Missouri House. Legislators approved a photo ID law in 2006, but it was struck down by the state Supreme Court as a violation of the state constitution. The proposal approved Wednesday would present the idea to voters as a constitutional amendment either in November or in a special election. House members gave the resolution first-round approval on a party-line vote, 89-67. Republicans brought up the proposal after the U.S. Supreme Court said an Indiana...

Indiana's controversial photo identification rule may not have made a major dent in the state's high turnout, but it did frustrate a small group of voters more accustomed to divine law. About 12 elderly Roman Catholic nuns were turned away Tuesday from a polling place because they didn't have state or federal identification bearing a photograph. Sister Julie McGuire said she was forced to turn away her fellow members of Saint Mary's Convent in South Bend, even though they had been told earlier that they would need to get such an ID to vote.

Indiana nuns lacking ID denied at poll by fellow sister By DEBORAH HASTINGS, AP National Writer 8 minutes ago About 12 Indiana nuns were turned away Tuesday from a polling place by a fellow bride of Christ because they didn't have state or federal identification bearing a photograph. Sister Julie McGuire said she was forced to turn away her fellow sisters at Saint Mary's Convent in South Bend, across the street from the University of Notre Dame, because they had been told earlier that they would need such an ID to vote. The nuns, all in their 80s or 90s,...

Experts say Supreme Court ruling upholding law could disenfranchise minorities, youth and the elderly. Experts say African-American voters — a key constituency of Barack Obama in the primaries thus far — might be disproportionately affected in Tuesday’s Indiana primary by the Supreme Court’s recent decision to uphold the state’s voter identification requirement. Studies show that African-Americans are especially likely not to have the identification necessary to vote on Tuesday. Several other groups, notably elderly voters, disabled voters and young voters, are also more likely than the general population not to have the necessary identification. “The research is pretty clear that...

The Supreme Court's approval of the country's strictest election standards doesn't mean every state should adopt them - The U.S. Supreme Court stamped its approval this week on Indiana's decision to require voters to show photo identification at the polls. Should Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas get in line? Not necessarily. State lawmakers should always be concerned about the integrity of the ballot, decide what can reasonably and fairly be expected of voters and legislate accordingly. But there is no federal mandate to adopt the photo ID, a solution that still seems to be in search of a problem. In his...

The U.S. Supreme Court's 6-3 ruling on Indiana's voter ID law will rank as among the court's worst – up there with Plessy v. Ferguson, the 1896 ruling allowing forced separation of the races. It wasn't overturned until 1954. Here's hoping it doesn't take 58 years to overturn Monday's misguided decision. The Indiana law is aimed at a phantasm: in-person voter fraud at the polls. In the words of the court's majority, "The record contains no evidence of any such fraud actually occurring in Indiana at any time in its history." To find fraud, the justices went back to New...

DO STATE LEGISLATURES have the constitutional right to require voters to provide photo identification to cast a ballot at the polls? That has been a hotly contested issue that the U.S. Supreme Court decided in the affirmative, a 6-3 ruling in an Indiana case. It was the correct decision. Proponents of photo IDs argue that such identification is needed to combat voter fraud, even if it is not proven to be a major problem. Opponents of IDs contend that it is an infringement on voting rights which burdens people with the requirement to provide photo identification. They also say obtaining...

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court -- in a shock 6-3 decision (shocking because Justice John Paul Stevens was on the side of the angels!) -- held that states could indeed require voters to show photo-ID before voting... causing Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY, 90%) to eructate, "This decision is a body blow to what America stands for -- equal access to the polls" (for senior citizens, minorities, and the poor... most of whom, apparently, carry no identification). The Supreme Court upheld Indiana’s voter-identification law on Monday, declaring that a requirement to produce photo identification is not unconstitutional and that the state...

Showing ID to vote? The horror. Seattle Post-Intelligencer runs whiny AP writer's complaint about Indiana voter law What is it with Democrats and showing ID at the polls? This article from an AP national writer certainly doesn't fit any reasonable standard for a wire service. It's just short of a screed, with no balance...just a minor jeremiad against asking people to show ID at the polls: The Supreme Court's refusal to strike down an Indiana law requiring government-issued photo identification at the ballot box could disenfranchise minority and elderly voters at next week's primary and prompt other states to pass...

During a segment on Monday’s "The Situation Room," host Wolf Blitzer and CNN justice correspondent Kelli Arena framed the Supreme Court decision upholding Indiana’s "strict" voter ID law according to the liberal view (a law so "strict" that it calls for the voter show photo ID before voting). Arena’s report offered three critics of the decision to only one supporter, who happened to be Indiana’s Secretary of State. One of the three critics was a quadriplegic who apparently "had to pay more than $100 to get documentation to prove who she was" before getting an ID in Indiana. After Arena’s...

Press Releases Contact: Brendan Daly/Nadeam Elshami 202-226-7616 For Immediate Release 04/28/2008 Pelosi Statement on Supreme Court Decision on Voter ID Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement in response to the Supreme Court’s decision today on Indiana’s voter identification case: “The Supreme Court’s decision is disappointing. The Court’s decision today places obstacles to the fundamental rights of American citizens—especially the poor, the elderly, and individuals with disabilities—to participate in the electoral process. Requiring American citizens pay for underlying documents needed for an identification card and travel to distant motor vehicle locations for processing hinders—and diminishes—their right to...

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 Monday to uphold a strict Indiana law requiring voters to present photo identification at the polls, handing Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) a serious setback days before a pivotal primary battle. (snip) Obama, however, will face a significant disadvantage in Indiana because the high court failed to strike down a law that affects two major pillars of support: black voters and young voters. Indiana requires that voters present state or federal government-issued photo identification on Election Day. But a recent study conducted by the Washington Institute for the Study of Ethnicity and Race found that 18...

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court upheld Indiana’s voter identification law on Monday, concluding in a splintered decision that the challengers failed to prove that the law’s photo ID requirement placed an unconstitutional burden on the right to vote. The 6-to-3 ruling kept the door open to future lawsuits that provided more evidence. But this theoretical possibility was small comfort to the dissenters or to critics of voter ID laws, who predicted that a more likely outcome than successful lawsuits would be the spread of measures that would keep some legitimate would-be voters from the polls. Voting experts said the ruling...

Crawford v. Marion County Election Board, Case No. 07-21 http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/07pdf/07-21.pdf