Legal News

Supreme Court OKs Voter ID Law

An Indiana law requiring voters to present government-issued photo identification has been upheld as constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Indiana "Voter ID Law" requires citizens voting in person on election day -- or casting a ballot in person at the office of the circuit court clerk prior to election day -- to present photo identification issued by the government. A challenge to the law was brought by several groups, including nonprofit organizations representing elderly, disabled, poor, and minority voters. In Monday's 6-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the law is valid and relevant to the state's interest in protecting the integrity and reliability of the electoral process, including the interest in preventing voter fraud. The New York Times reports that "[b]ecause Indiana's law is considered the strictest in the country, similar laws in the other 20 or so states that have photo-identification rules would appear to have a good chance of surviving scrutiny." Indiana voters will cast their ballots in the presidential primary on Tuesday, May 6th.

• Read Monday's U.S. Supreme Court Decision (FindLaw)
• Supreme Court Upholds Voter Identification Law in Indiana (N.Y. Times)
• U.S. Supreme Court Center (FindLaw)
• Voters and Voting Rights (FindLaw)

Full post as published by FindLaw's Common Law on April 29, 2008 (boomark / email).