Academic

Score One For The Fraud Fighters: Elderly Nuns Denied Vote In Indiana

By Dan Filler

Indiana's Supreme Court certified fraud-fightin' voting ID law got a good workout today.  AP tells us that several elderly nuns were denied the right to vote in South Bend (home of St. Marys and Notre Dame.)  OK, maybe it was a press set-up, but I'm sure it was also true.  Here's the report:

About 12 Indiana nuns were turned away Tuesday from a polling place by a fellow sister because they didn't have state or federal identification bearing a photograph.

Sister Julie McGuire said she was forced to turn away her fellow members of Saint Mary's Convent in South Bend, across the street from the University of Notre Dame, because they had been told earlier that they would need such an ID to vote.  The nuns, all in their 80s or 90s, didn't get one but came to the precinct anyway. 

"One came down this morning, and she was 98, and she said, 'I don't want to go do that,'" Sister McGuire said. Some showed up with outdated passports. None of them drives.  They weren't given provisional ballots because it would be impossible to get them to a motor vehicle branch and back within the 10 days allotted by the law, Sister McGuire said. "You have to remember that some of these ladies don't walk well. They're in wheelchairs or on walkers or electric carts."

As Indiana's Secretary of State, Todd Rokita  commented a couple weeks ago:  "This says to the voter you can have confidence again in the elections." 

Full post as published by The Faculty Lounge on May 06, 2008 (boomark / email).