No ID, No Vote: Voter ID Law Not Okay in Indiana
An Indiana appellate court declared no-go on a state law that required Indiana residents to show photo identification in order to vote. The state court ruled that the voter ID law violated Indiana's constitution by failing to treat voters on an impartial basis, even though though the U.S. Supreme Court last year found the law to be in line with the Constitution.
The Indiana voter ID law was passed in 2005, challenged in federal court, and then found constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2008. The matter wasn't done after that though, the League of Women Voters took up the cause and case and filed suit in state court.
The unanimous decision of a the three-judge appellate panel held that the Indiana voter ID law violated guarantee of equal protection for all citizens by requiring all in-person voters to show state-approved ID, while not requiring the same of mail-in voters and nursing home residents.
How does this affect your state's take on requiring voter ID?
The federal legislation, Help America Vote Act (HAVA), requires ID from first-time voters who registered to vote by mail and didn't verify their identification with their mail-in voter registration. If a voter can't produce an ID, he or she usually has some recourse to allow their vote to count. The federal act allows states say and flexibility in implementing HAVA.
To find out more about the latest developments in voting laws, check with electiononline.org, produced by the Pew Center on States' Election Initiatives.
Related Resources:
- Indiana Court Strikes Down Voter ID Law (New York Times)
- Politics rules voter ID ruling reaction (WishTV.com)
- Court Says Indiana Voter ID Law Unconstitutional (Courthouse News Service)
- Ind. governor calls voter ID ruling out of line (Chicago Tribune)
- State Voter Identification Requirements (ncsl.org)