Obama voices opposition to photo voting requirement
Monday, September 26, 2005
Printable Formatby Karen E. Pride
Chicago Defender
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) filed a resolution last week opposing a recommendation that would require all eligible voters to show photo identification before casting a vote.
Obama reacted to the findings of the Carter-Baker Commission on Federal Election Reform released a week ago.
During a teleconference Friday, Obama told reporters there were several good ideas coming from the commission but the call for the photo ID was a really bad one.
"It may seem to make sense on the surface, " he said. "But the problem is you have a large proportion of people who don't have driver's licenses. So, they would have to pay to get state-issued ID cards, which might cost money and cause hardship for minorities."
He offered the state of Georgia as an example of how this mandate could be dangerous, especially for African Americans, Hispanics, seniors and disabled persons.
Georgia has already proposed a law requiring the photo ID.
"There are 159 counties in Georgia and only 56 locations throughout the state where you can get the state-issued ID, and none of them is in Atlanta," said Obama.
The idea of having a state ID so people can cash checks or travel on airlines makes great sense, he told the Chicago Defender.
"But don't tie it to the right to vote," he said. "If every state in the country wants to issue free ID's or even charge for one, that's terrific. But don't put them up as barriers for voters."
He said according to the Georgia chapter of the American Association of
Retired Persons, 36 percent of residents over the age of 75, or one third of them, don't have a driver's license.
In the United States, Obama said, more than three million people with disabilities don't have a government issued identification card.
"And a study done in Wisconsin in June found the rate of license possession by African Americans was half that of whites," he said. "What's most disturbing is this is a solution in search of a problem. There has been no documentation that voter fraud resulting from a person going to a polling place pretending to be someone else is a problem."
Right now, said Obama, if you want to vote in Illinois, you can register by mail or at your library or City Hall.
On Election Day, you show up, give your name and cast your ballot.
If you don't have an ID or proof of residence, you can use something else that matches a name to an address.
"What we've done is set up this resolution, which I introduced in the Senate, to opposed the commission's recommendation, " said Obama. "There are 21 supporters so far. If we can get all 45 Democrats in the Senate, which I'm hoping we can, to indicate their opposition to this, then it sends a strong signal that any attempt to move this forward would potentially meet with a filibuster."