Photo ID proposal passes Senate committee

Support for the proposal is split mostly along party lines.

By Andrew Denney
May 13, 2008

On Monday, a Missouri Senate committee approved a proposal for a constitutional amendment, that would require voters to present photo identification on Election Day.

If the proposal is approved, legislators in the Missouri General Assembly would be authorized to pass laws requiring anyone who wants to vote to display a government-issued photo ID in order to prove they are a U.S. citizen and a legal resident of Missouri. Under the approved proposal, the state would be required to issue an acceptable ID free of charge to voters.

Proponents of the resolution, which passed 5-4 in the Senate Financial, Governmental Organizations and Elections Committee, said the measure would prevent voter fraud.

Opponents of the resolution said Missouri's current voter identification laws are among the strictest in the country, and there has been no evidence of voter fraud

Currently, Missouri law requires to display one form of ID to vote, which includes government issued IDs, valid student IDs, bank statements, utility bills or out-of-state licenses. If a voter is unable to display any of these at the ballot box, their vote can still be counted if an election judge attests to knowing them.

The proposal was moved to the Senate after it passed in the House on Thursday with a 88-69 vote, splitting the chamber mostly along party lines.

Rep. Stanley Cox, R-Sedalia, who authored the proposal, said while voter fraud has never been reported, just one occurrence of it “deprives” voters of a fair democracy.

Rep. Judy Baker, D-Columbia, who voted against the proposal, said the resolution could be "damaging" to democracy in Missouri.

"This particular legislation would only address voter impersonation at the polls," Baker said. "It has not been proven it has been a huge problem in Missouri."

Secretary of State Robin Carnahan said in a news release that photo ID requirements at the polls could possibly disenfranchise up to 240,000 Missouri voters, and said legislators should vote down the measure.

"As Missouri's chief elections official, it's my job to ensure fair elections, and elections cannot be fair if eligible voters are not allowed to vote," Carnahan said in the release.

Cox said he does not think the proposed amendment would cause voter discrimination, and said empirical evidence has suggested it will not occur.

A constitutional amendment is needed to allow passage of legislation of voter ID laws because of a 2006 Missouri Supreme Court ruling, which deemed such laws unconstitutional.

In April, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld an Indiana photo ID law that requires a government-issued photo ID to vote.

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