Voter photo ID law gets first test next Tuesday

Michigan's not-so-new law requiring voters to show photo identification gets its first test this Tuesday, Nov. 6, in local elections around the state.

The long, conflicting road to a photo ID law The law was one of several 1996 amendments to the Michigan Election Law. Before the law took effect, then-Attorney General Frank Kelly issued an opinion, in which he said the photo ID requirement violated the Equal Protection Clause. The law lay dormant for eight years. In 2005, it was revived, unchanged, by other election law amendments, effective Jan. 1, 2007. With Frank Kelly's opinion lurking in the background, the House asked the Michigan Supreme Court to answer this question in an advisory opinion: "Do the photo identification requirements contained in 2005 PA 71 violate either the Michigan Constitution or the United States Constitution?" In an order issued in April 2006, on a 5-2 vote, the question the court chose to answer was, "Do the photo identification requirements of Section 523 of 2005 PA 71, MCL 168.523, on their face, violate either the Michigan Constitution or the United States Constitution?" Justice Marilyn Kelly dissented for two reasons. First, the House framed the question too broadly. Second, the question the majority agreed to answer was not the question asked. Justice Michael Cavanagh also dissented. The court issued a 5-2 opinion, which held "that the photo identification requirement contained in the statute is facially constitutional under the balancing test articulated by the United States Supreme Court in Burdick v Takushi." Information from "Michigan's Photo ID Requirement for Voters"

If you don't have such ID, or you do and you left it at home, you can still get a ballot but you must sign an affidavit to that effect.

There's a stiff penalty for lying about the status of your ID, or the lack of one: you could be convicted of perjury, pay a fine of up to $1,000 or spend up to five years in prison, or both.

They're not fooling around.

What's acceptable photo ID? The Secretary of State's office has provided a helpful list.

There's been much speculation about what effect the law will have on voter participation and whether it prevent the evil it was designed to cure - election fraud.

Here's the take of Suzanne Lowe, Michigan Senate Bill Analysis Coordinator, in her article, "Michigan's Photo ID Requirement for Voters." It's in the latest issue of "State Notes: Topics of Legislative Interest."

According to the Secretary of State's office, approximately 370,000 registered voters in Michigan (or about 5.0 percent of all registered voters in the State) do not have either a driver license or an official State identification card. There are no data on the number of voters who also do not have any of the other types of photo ID that the Secretary of State considers acceptable. Of the voters who do have photo ID, there is no way of knowing how many will not bring it to the polls because they forget to or do not know about the law's requirement. It also is not possible to predict how many voters who do not have photo ID, or have it but do not bring it to the polls, will be unable to sign an affidavit because they cannot read or understand the document, or will be unwilling to sign one because they feel intimidated or embarrassed or simply do not want to take the time.

Whether the photo ID requirement actually represents a "barrier to the ballot box," as critics contend, may be known only after the requirement is implemented, and perhaps only after it is enforced during the November 2008 general election. Whether the requirement serves to prevent voter fraud may never be know. Although there have been convictions in Michigan for illegal activity during voter registration drives, there does not appear to be any evidence of the type of in-person polling place voter impersonation that the photo ID requirement might deter. As some contend, this may be because of the difficulty of detecting such activity and catching the offenders. On the other hand, to the extent that such fraud does occur, it is questionable whether the penalty for signing a false affidavit will deter someone who is willing to commit a felony by voting under a false name or impersonating another elector.