Photo ID

On May 26, 2011, Governor Dayton vetoed a bill that would have required Minnesota voters to present only one of three IDs to vote — a valid State driver’s license, a valid Minnesota ID card, or a newly-created Minnesota voter ID. Had this bill become law, other IDs — such as a student ID, Military ID, or U.S. passport — would not be considered appropriate identification to vote, and the bill would have burdened Minnesotans with the most onerous voter photo ID requirement in the United States.

No need.

A voter photo ID will only prevent voter impersonation. As documented in CEIMN’s 2010 report, Facts about Ineligible Voting and Voter Fraud in Minnesota, there is no problem with voter impersonation in Minnesota.

Cost.

In March 2011, Citizens for Election Integrity Minnesota and Common Cause Minnesota reported on the costs of a voter photo ID in The High Cost of Voter ID Mandates. And, earlier in 2011, the Brennan Center reported on the costs in The Costs of  Voter ID Laws: What the Courts Say.

Harm.

In November 2011, the Brenan Center published Voting Law Changes in 2012 and in December 2011 the NAACP published, Defending Democracy: Confronting Modern Barriers to Voting in America.

 

In February 2012, the Office of the Secretary of the State released district-level numbers of already registered voters throughout Minnesota who do not have a valid photo ID. They did this by matching voter registration names and addresses with Department of Vehicle Services data. A map, with that data, was created by the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits. This demonstrates that every county in Minnesota will be impacted by a voter photo ID, although some have greater numbers of people without valid photo IDs.

Groups speaking out against a voter photo ID in Minnesota.

Citizens for Election Integrity Minnesota is a member of the Voting Rights Coalition, which is composed of 50 other groups who are opposed to a voter photo ID. Below are links to some of their websites and statements against a voter photo ID:

CEIMN's Feb 1, 2012, Statement Against Voter Photo ID

 

 

Voting Rights.

While there has a plethora of reports about the negative impact a voter photo ID would have on specific populations of Americans there has yet to be conclusive and verifiable proof that a voter ID will improve the integrity of elections. In fact, when barriers are put into place that prevent voters from the ballot box, the outcome of an election is no longer the voice of all eligible voters, the outcome is just the voice of people who were not impacted by unnecessary barriers.

It is critically important that any changes to election law is based on fact---not on rumors. This is eloquently expressed in Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533 (1964):

Undoubtedly, the right of suffrage is a fundamental matter in a free and democratic society. Especially since the right to exercise the franchise in a free and unimpaired manner is preservative of other basic civil and political rights, any alleged infringement of the right of citizens to vote must be carefully and meticulously scrutinized.