Voting Rights Watch: Why ID-match rules like Florida's could disenfranchise thousands of voters - "At this point, the only route for voters to ensure they won't be disenfranchised is to double-check their registration status or call an election hot line number like 866.MYVOTE1 if there are problems." 9/18/08
[Wisconsin] Rule would disenfranchise voters, cause election chaos - "People would have to bring proof of identity and residence on Election Day, something regular voters are unaccustomed to providing at the polls. Those who vote using a provisional ballot would have to return to the poll on Election Day or to their clerk's office by 4 p.m. the next day to validate their eligibility and have their vote counted." 9/18/08
'Jim Crawford' Republicans - The GOP is working to keep eligible African-Americans from voting in several states - "Now, with the help of a 2008 Supreme Court decision, Crawford vs. Marion County (Indiana) Election Board, white Republicans in some areas will keep eligible blacks from voting by requiring driver's licenses. But while occasional efforts to stuff ballot boxes through phony absentee voting still surface, the incidence of individual vote fraud voting when you aren't eligible is virtually non-existent, as 'The Truth About Vote Fraud,' a study by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, clearly shows. In other words, the problem Republicans claim they want to combat with increased ID requirements doesn't exist." 9/11/08
Critics worry [TX] voter ID proposal would disenfranchise citizens - "In 2006, the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law found that 25 percent of African-Americans, 18 percent of seniors over 65, and 15 percent of voters earning under $35,000 a year do not have government-issued photo identification. A study commissioned by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, conducted by researchers from Rutgers and Ohio State universities, found that in 2004, states with voter-identification laws experienced a drop in turnout, including a 10 percent drop in Hispanic voters." 9/5/08
Legislators coming to Brownsville to discuss Voter ID law - "Texas legislators will likely vote on a bill that would require Texas voters to provide proof of citizenship in order to vote in local, state and national elections this year, not only would people find it more difficult to vote, but actual citizens will be prevented from voting under a proof of citizenship voter registration requirement.'" Rep. Rafael Anchia, 9/3/08
Michigan voters beware: Secretary of state's voter ID ruling inspires mistrust - "If a poll worker decides a person doesn't look like his ID, his provisional vote would be counted only if he proves his eligibility by bringing another form of ID to election officials within six days of the election." 9/2/08
97-year-old voter can't prove she's a citizen 8/5/08 UPDATE: State relents, and 97-year-old gets to vote - "Arizona issued 97-year-old Shirley Freeda Preiss a state identification card last week, making it possible for her to vote in the 20th presidential election of her adult life." 8/12/08
Elderly Couple Loses ID in Fire, Fear They Can't Vote - "Confined to a wheelchair and in poor health, Cowan says it would be extremely difficult for her to get a valid photo ID. 'For me its virtually impossible and at best a burden. The burden shouldn't fall on me, my vote is sacred, it belongs to me.'" 7/14/08
With no photo IDs, nuns denied ballots in Indiana - "Here you have a bunch of nuns (some of whom were in their 80s and 90s and no longer had driver's licenses) whose votes can't be accepted by a bunch of nuns ... who live with them in the polling place in their convent because they don't have an ID.'' John Borkowski, a South Bend lawyer volunteering as an election watchdog for the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. 5/6/08