You can vote? Prove it!

Posted at 3:55 PM on March 15, 2006 by Bob Collins (4 Comments)

There's a bill at the Capitol that made some headway today that's bound to gin up some controversy during this election season. HF2600 will require proof of citizenship and also require photo identification when you go to vote. It'll probably stir things up because it's shaping up as a classic DFL vs. GOP issue.

The measure advanced, barely, at the Civil Law and Elections Committee today on 6-5 vote. Committee Chair Jeff Johnson, a sure "yes" vote, was busy testifying elsewhere on identity theft and Rep. Torrey Westrom wasn't in the room. So the committee recessed until they could round him up and get the bill approved.

Comments (4)

I hope HF2600 is passed and signed into law. The best way to stop voter fraud that has been prevelant across the U.S.

When a voter is required to present a picture ID then there is no doubt who the person is or where they live.

Posted by jonathan | March 15, 2006 4:41 PM

Who hasn't had trouble voting on election day?

The hearing today was dramatically one-sided, with three people giving purely anecdotal testimony about "Hmong people arriving in vans" in support of Emmer's bill (Including someone from Kiffmyer's office.)

On the other side were a about 10 non-profit and democracy groups, with an array of statistics, figures, and testimony -- convincing reasons why this bill is not only immoral and undemocratic, but unconstitutional.

In particular, those testifying against the bill repeatedly asked for evidence of supposed voter fraud. One can only assume that, if the Republicans had a case, they'd have some sort of statistics backing them up.

Given the widely reported election day shenanigans in swing states (purging voter rolls, long lines at polls, misinformation), adding hurdles to voter turnout is sure make our democracy more susceptible to voter supression. That's the kind of fraud Republicans ought to be worrying about.

Posted by bill | March 15, 2006 8:30 PM

The interesting thing about this is a guy on the MPR Forum with whom I'm acquainted -- Jim Hanson by name -- conservative, I think you could sya, brought this up back in 2004. He had, based on present law, figured out all sorts of scenarios in which voter fraud was possible. So we kicked it over to the Secretary of State's office to see if it was true, and, well, they siad basically, "yeah, I guess that could happen." (Spokesman, don't ask me who, it was 2 years ago), but that the open nature of elections was the worthy benefit.

Anyay, stop by the Forum, Jim occasionally still posts and I'm betting he'd love to get in on this.

Posted by Bob Collins | March 15, 2006 10:47 PM

I don't see the problem with asking citizens to produce an ID to vote.

If someone cannot plan for the election and make sure that they have a state ID, driver's license, or passport, then they obviously don't care too much about voting.

Posted by jonathan | March 16, 2006 10:34 AM

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