Voter ID law going before high court State says it prevents fraud; critics call law an unnecessary burden By Maureen Groppe - Star Washington Bureau 01/07/08
When Faye Buis-Ewing realized she needed a government-issued photo ID to vote in 2006, the retiree left her West Lafayette polling place and tried to get an Indiana identification card.
Buis-Ewing, who spends part of the year in Florida, did not have an Indiana driver's license, and the Bureau of Motor Vehicles said she could not use her Social Security card to get an Indiana identity card.
Her birth certificate also was unacceptable because it did not have her married name. Showing a utility bill would not work, as the bills come in her husband's name.
Buis-Ewing, 72, had to travel to the Social Security office for a statement verifying her identity, return to the BMV to get her identity card and -- four hours after she first tried to vote -- go back to the polling place, where workers gave her a standing ovation for her determination.
As the date with the Supreme Court draws neigh
Voter cited by opponents of Indiana's ID law registered in two states By Cindy Bevington - Evening Star 01/11/08
WASHINGTON – On the eve of a hearing before the U.S. Supreme Court, the Indiana Voter ID law has become a story with a twist: One of the individuals used by opponents to the law as an example of how the law hurts older Hoosiers is registered to vote in two states.
Faye Buis-Ewing, 72, who has been telling the media she is a 50-year resident of Indiana, at one point in the past few years also claimed two states as her primary residence and received a homestead exemption on her property taxes in both states.
Monday night from her Florida home, Ewing said she and her husband Kenneth “winter in Florida and summer in Indiana.” She admitted to registering to vote in both states, but stressed that she¹s never voted in Florida. She also has a Florida driver’s license, but when she tried to use it as her photo ID in the Indiana elections in November 2006, poll workers wouldn’t accept it.
Subsequently, Ewing became a sort-of poster child for the opposition when the Indiana League of Women Voters (ILWV) told media that the problems Ewing had voting that day shows why the high court should strike it down.
But Indiana Republican Secretary of State Todd Rokita said Monday that Ewing’s tale illustrates exactly why Indiana needs the law. “This shows that the Indiana ID law worked here, which also calls into question why the critics are so vehemently against this law, especially with persons like this, who may not have a legal right to vote in this election,” Rokita said.
Yes, I knew about her but since her situation was criminal and thus null, I didn’t mention it.