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Missouri Legislature Passes Voter ID Bill

David Lieb Reporting
Associated Press Writer

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Voters will be required to show photo identification to cast a ballot starting this fall under a bill that won final approval Friday in the Republican-controlled Missouri Legislature.

Republican leaders muscled the bill to passage over strong Democratic opposition. A 23-10 party-line Senate vote early Friday came after Republicans used a rare procedural move to thwart debate. The House also cut off debate later Friday before passing the bill 84-73. Republican Gov. Matt Blunt pledged to sign the bill into law.

The legislation requires voters to show a photo ID, such as a driver's license or military card, issued by Missouri or the federal government beginning with this November's elections. Free ID photo cards could be issued to the estimated 170,000 to 190,000 voting-age Missourians who don't already have one. People still lacking a photo ID this fall could cast a provisional ballot, which would be counted if their identities are verified.

The legislation also repeals the option for Missourians to vote a straight-party ticket by checking a single box instead of choosing candidates for each race on the ballot. Democratic Secretary of State Robin Carnahan has vigorously opposed both the straight-ticket repeal and the photo ID requirement, which she said could disenfranchise thousands of voters while leading to longer lines at the polls and delays in certifying election results.

But Republican supporters contend a photo ID requirement is necessary to give voters confidence their ballots aren't diluted by people who shouldn't be voting. ``This bill will increase trust in Missouri elections,'' said lead sponsor Sen. Delbert Scott, R-Lowry City. Blunt, who as secretary of state in 2004 declared Missouri's elections free of ``fraud and chaos'' under his tenure, said Friday that ``the potential for fraud still exists.'' ``We need to do whatever we can to safeguard the election process,'' Blunt said. ``Clearly, a photo identification requirement does that and helps make sure that those who are casting ballots are entitled to cast ballots.''

Senate Democrats battled against the bill throughout the 2006 session but were prevented from speaking on final passage when Scott made five straight motions to cut off debate and immediately vote. Since 1970, that motion had been used successfully on just seven previous bills in the Senate, where the walls are engraved with the motto ``Free and fair discussion will ever be found the firmest friend to the truth.'' ``The irony here is that we shut off debate on a bill that shuts people out of the political process,'' said Sen. Patrick Dougherty, D-St. Louis. ``The end result is that a number of our constituents whom we ask to vote for us will in reality be disenfranchised from voting this election.'' In the House, Republicans allowed two hours of debate Friday before cutting off Democrats to pass the bill.

Carnahan has said the elderly, disabled and poor are most likely to have trouble voting, because they are the least likely to have driver's licenses or other government identification. Figures from Carnahan's office indicate the removal of straight-ticket voting could have a slightly greater impact on Democratic voters than Republicans. For the 2004 elections, roughly two-thirds of Missouri's local election authorities provided information to the secretary of state's office showing that 594,262 people cast straight Democratic ballots and 497,805 cast straight Republican ballots. The counties that didn't respond were largely rural, with smaller numbers of voters.

Despite the partisan division over the legislation, Senate President Pro Tem Michael Gibbons said he didn't believe the bill put Democrats at a disadvantage to Republicans. ``The people who are going to be disadvantaged by this bill are the people who want to cheat,'' Gibbons, R-Kirkwood, said.

Under the bill, the elderly, disabled and those with religious objections could cast a provisional ballot without a photo ID in any election. Until the 2008 general election, other people lacking a proper photo ID could cast a provisional ballot if they showed certain forms of ID, such as an out-of-state driver's license, a college ID or utility bill, or if two election judges know them. In either situation, the ballots would count if the voters signed an affidavit, they were in the right polling place and their signatures matched the ones on file with election authorities. The bill provides at least nine mobile units to visit nursing homes and other public places to help people get photo ID cards.

©AP

This is Florida's Voter Law:

It REQUIRES voter ID. It was found for FREE on http://www.findlaw.com

at: http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?mode=View%20Statutes&SubMenu=1&App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=election&URL=CH0189/Sec4051.HTM

_____________________________

The 2005 Florida Statutes

Title IX
ELECTORS AND ELECTIONS Chapter 101
VOTING METHODS AND PROCEDURE View Entire Chapter

101.043 Identification required at polls.--

(1) The precinct register, as prescribed in s. 98.461, shall be used at the polls for the purpose of identifying the elector at the polls prior to allowing him or her to vote. The clerk or inspector shall require each elector, upon entering the polling place, to present one of the following current and valid picture identifications:

(a) Florida driver's license.

(b) Florida identification card issued by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

(c) United States passport.

(d) Employee badge or identification.

(e) Buyer's club identification.

(f) Debit or credit card.

(g) Military identification.

(h) Student identification.

(i) Retirement center identification.

(j) Neighborhood association identification.

(k) Public assistance identification.

If the picture identification does not contain the signature of the voter, an additional identification that provides the voter's signature shall be required. The elector shall sign his or her name in the space provided on the precinct register or on an electronic device provided for recording the voter's signature. The clerk or inspector shall compare the signature with that on the identification provided by the elector and enter his or her initials in the space provided on the precinct register or on an electronic device provided for that purpose and allow the elector to vote if the clerk or inspector is satisfied as to the identity of the elector.

1(2) If the elector fails to furnish the required identification, the elector shall be allowed to vote a provisional ballot. The canvassing board shall determine the validity of the ballot pursuant to s. 101.048(2).

History.--s. 1, ch. 77-267; s. 533, ch. 95-147; s. 10, ch. 98-129; s. 3, ch. 2001-40; s. 13, ch. 2003-415; s. 23, ch. 2005-277; s. 30, ch. 2005-278.

1Note.--As amended and redesignated from subsection (3) by s. 23, ch. 2005-277. For a description of multiple acts in the same session affecting a statutory provision, see preface to the Florida Statutes, "Statutory Construction." This provision was also amended by s. 30, ch. 2005-278, and that version reads:

(2) If the elector who fails to furnish the required identification is an elector subject to s. 97.0535 and has not provided the required identification to a voter registration official prior to election day, the elector shall be allowed to vote a provisional ballot. The canvassing board shall determine the validity of the ballot pursuant to s. 101.048(2).

Note.--Former s. 98.471.