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Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments In Critical Case on Voter ID

Today the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the much anticipated voter ID law case — Crawford v. Marion County Election Board . The Supreme Court Justices must determine whether to uphold an April 2006 decision , written by Judge Posner of the U.S. Court of Appeals 7th Circuit, which supported Indiana's requirement that voters present valid photo identification before being allowed to vote. The New York Times is reporting that the justices "appeared reluctant" to strike down the law. Justice Anthony Kennedy said, "You want us to invalidate the statute because of minimal inconvenience?"

According to the Brennan Center for Justice , Indiana's law is the most restrictive in the country. In a New York Times article, Daniel P. Tokaji, a professor of law at Ohio State University, labeled Crawford v. Marion County Election Board "the most important case involving the mechanics of election administration in decades."

The plaintiffs in the case are the Indiana Democratic Party, the Marion Democratic Central Committee, and League of Women Voters. They assert four problems with the Indiana voter ID law:

1. The cost of the identification, travel and birth certificate required to obtain identification constitute a poll tax;
2. The need to go to the county election board to sign an affidavit constitutes an added unnecessary burden;
3. The regulations do not apply to all voters, namely absentee voters, giving rise to disparate treatment; and,
4. Many of the Indiana Bureaus of Motor Vehicles, the only location to obtain valid identification, are difficult to get to, especially in rural counties.

Descriptions of the amicus briefs filed in the case can be found at the Brennan Center for Justice's website.