Court says Arizona can demand voter identification

Reuters ^ | 4/17/12 | Tim Gaynor

[markomalley]

A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday ruled Arizona may require voters to show identification at the polls, a ruling likely to add fuel to the fiery debate about voting rights in a presidential election year.

But the court also ruled the state cannot demand that they show proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections, a decision the state's attorney general said he would appeal.

That could set the stage for yet another U.S. Supreme Court showdown over a contentious Arizona law touching on citizenship issues. Next week, the high court will hear arguments over the state's effort to crack down on illegal immigration.

At issue in Tuesday's ruling was a 2004 Arizona ballot initiative, Proposition 200, that amended state election laws to add the citizenship and identification requirements. The measure - designed to stop illegal immigrants from voting - was challenged in court shortly afterward.

While agreeing that Arizona was within its rights to require identification at voting places, the appeals court concluded the national Voting Rights Act superseded the law's requirement that anyone registering to vote in a federal election show "satisfactory evidence" of U.S. citizenship.

[jboot]

Many states accept a US Passport as proof of citizenship.

Requiring registrants to present a birth certificate is hardly onerous. I recently had to produce mine to get a driver's license, and prior to that to get my passport. I had to purchase a copy from my birth state because my orginal BC was not up to modern standards (no unique id number and no contact information for the issuing authority (The state! Lol!)).

[libstripper]

All you would need to do would be contact the county clerk of the county where you were born and requrest a certified copy of your BC. You’d get it by mail in a week or two in return for a fee of about $15.00 or $20.00. I did it about 10 years ago so I could apply for a passport.

[zeugma]

How does one prove one has citizenship? A birth certificate? I would be hard-pressed to find mine. Would probably have to go back to my home town court. I don’t know anyone who carries his birth certificate in his wallet.

Anyone that changes jobs in the post-"patriot" act America has to show proof of  their eligibility to work. It's called the I-9 form, and requires several bits of documentation of eligibility, among which, a birth certificate is one qualifier. I had to order a replacement birth certificate from the state of my birth last year to do this. Fortuantely, the Lord was taking care of me ahead of time, as he'd prodded the company I was working for to get I-9 docs from me while I was still working for the company where I'd been since 2000. I just changed jobs a month ago, and it was useful to have nice, fresh SS card, and birth certificate available

The point being, they wouldn't want to see your birth certificate when you vote. They want it when you register. This is a perfectly reasonable request. If the DMV records weren't so screwed up with illegals, I'd support just using a driver's license as enough, but given the world we live in today, I'd really prefer to see a DL and BC, or a passport (which also works for the I-9 form BTW).

We need to be able to do something about vote fraud in this country. Perhaps a one-time thorough check, i.e., DL+BC|Passport, then every four or 5 years, re-validate the DL to make sure you're still alive and kicking.

[3rdcoastislander]

I registered to vote in Harris County (Houston) 6 months ago and still have not received my card in the mail. I doubt I ever will. So I plan on just showing my ID when going to vote. They will probably turn me away because they have still not registered me in whatever district they think I belong. Or I could be wrong they may let me vote simply for showing up. Either way Houston’s vote will be scrambled like fried eggs. There will probably be more illegals trying to vote here than just about anywhere in the United States.

[Tspud1]

So I could get your birth cert if I sent in the $20? Yours and several others if I felt the need to vote several times.

[Tspud1]

Can anyone get your BC by sending in the form and money?

[Red_Devil 232]

Once you find or otherwise obtain your birth cert. take it to your county clerk’s office and have it registered with them. They will copy it and verify that it is a certified copy of your BC. You will then have a copy stored in a safe place and
easily accessible if you misplace or lose the one you keep. I do this with important papers like my BC and DD-214 etc.

[libstripper]

Possibly so. It’s a public record. It’s really surprising how much you can get out of public records.

[DBeers]

But the court was not convinced by Arizona's arguments in favor of Proposition 200's proof of citizenship requirement.

"In sum, the NVRA and Proposition 200's registration provision ... do not operate harmoniously as a single procedural scheme for the registration of voters for federal elections," Ikuta wrote.

"Therefore, under Congress's expansive Elections Clause power, we must hold that the registration provision ... is pre-empted by the NVRA" when a when a voter seeks to register for a federal election.

Register to Vote | The U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC)

The National Mail Voter Registration Form can be used to register to vote, to update your registration information due to a change of name, make a change of address or to register with a political party. Note: After filling out this form, you must send it to a state or local election office for processing. See state-specific instructions included in the form for additional information.

The progressives slipped one in on us when they passed the NVRA. It seems simple enough to me how this can be corrected. Congress needs to change all NVRA forms to include a proof of citizenship requirement.

[brityank]

How does one prove one has citizenship? A birth certificate? I would be hard-pressed to find mine.

Call Pedro at 1-800-GET-ANID - he'll fix you right up!

I got a notice last week that we will need a Photo ID with an Expiration Date to vote in the PA General Election in November - nothing about a Citizenship requirement. :^(

[brityank]

But the court also ruled the state cannot demand that they show proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections, a decision the state's attorney general said he would appeal.

According to the Voting Rights Act of 1965 it is a REQUIREMENT that the Voter be a Citizen:

Echoing the language of the 15th Amendment, the Act prohibits states from imposing any "voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure ... to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color.

(My highlights)

The Court is wrong.

[ridesthemiles]

I couldn’t open my last bank account 7 years ago or get my Nevada driver’s license without showing my birth cert. Then I used the driver’s license to register to vote.

[Peet]

So I could get your birth cert if I sent in the $20? Yours and several others if I felt the need to vote several times.

Sounds that way. The city clerk's office had this:

  ARE BIRTH CERTIFICATES PUBLIC RECORDS?
  Unless your parents were not married at the time of
  your birth, birth certificates are available to any 
  member of the public.

All you have to do is (1) know full name, (2) date of birth, (3) place of birth (hospital name or home birth), 4) father's name, (5) mother's maiden name, and (6) cough up $20.

Note: I remembered wrong! It was $10 and a S.A.S.E. if I use the town clerk of the town I was born in-- but more if I go through the state ($28).

Regarding the one restriction on my records being public; some say I'm a real bastard -- but metephorical doesn't count in this case... ☺

Not like Hawaii, huh?

[aquila48]

“...the appeals court concluded the national Voting Rights Act superseded the law’s requirement that anyone registering to vote in a federal election show “satisfactory evidence” of U.S. citizenship.”

That’s rather odd. Doesn’t the constitution say that you have to be a citizen to vote? And doesn’t the constitution trump any other law passed by congress?

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks markomalley.