[EL] Rhode Island and voter ID

D. Stebenne stebenne.1 at osu.edu
Thu Jun 9 10:04:56 PDT 2011 

The Rhode Island situation is interesting in that Democrats, Republicans 
and a governor elected as an independent are all involved in the 
process.  With public support growing for voter id seemingly everywhere, RI 
might be a place where a responsible compromise could emerge that would 
offer a model for other states, and especially other "blue" states.  For 
those reasons, RI looks like a state to watch on this issue.

David Stebenne
Associate Professor
of History and Law
Ohio State University
(614) 292-5359

At 09:53 PM 6/8/2011, David Segal wrote:
>I've been in politics in this state for 10 years, and the answers to this 
>question are probably almost as opaque for me and most political actors 
>here as they are for outsiders.  But I'll try:
>
>I see this issue as wrapped up in the bigger ball of issues that relate to 
>immigration, where Rhode Island's a similar outlier:  Rhode Island's come 
>closer to passing immigration restrictions, such as state-wide E-Verify 
>requirements (compelling employers to check immigration status of 
>potential employees) than any other blue state. These bills are frequently 
>sponsored by Dems, and E-Verify passed the House by a vote of 54-17, I 
>believe, even though the partisan breakdown of the chamber was 
>65D-10R.  The Senate killed it.  And our former Repub governor actually 
>signed an exec order that required anybody getting state funds to use E-Verify.
>
>The Dem Party here, even moreso than in other New England states, 
>encompasses the entire political spectrum, with several Dems as 
>conservative -- or more conservative -- than most Repubs.  The Church has 
>a lot of power here (most Catholic state in the country) and has focused 
>much of energy on supporting candidates who are opposed to gay marriage 
>and abortion.  In the minds of most candidates and voters those positions 
>generally coincide with support for increased restrictions on immigration 
>(even though the Church supports, at least nominally, more lax 
>restrictions on immigration).
>
>The actors behind the Voter ID push are almost precisely congruous with 
>those who propagate support for more restrictive immigration.
>
>Chafee hasn't made a statement on ID yet, but was backed by much of the 
>Common Cause sphere for his bid for Governor, so there's a decent chance 
>they'll be able to convince him to oppose.
>
>Hope that helps bit.
>
>David Segal
>(Former Providence City Councilman, RI State Rep, and CD1 candidate for 
>Congress.)
>
> > From: dlieberman at advancementproject.org
> > To: Justin.Levitt at lls.edu
> > Date: Wed, 8 Jun 2011 13:04:38 -0400
> > CC: law-election at department-lists.uci.edu
> > Subject: Re: [EL] Rhode Island and voter ID
> >
> > While you are correct that many of the other photo ID proposals require 
> those without ID to cast provisional ballots that will be counted only if 
> the voter returns to the election authority within a specified period of 
> time with the proper ID, other states do have provisions like this 
> related to certain categories of voters without ID, and they are not the 
> savings provisions that many believe. For example, Missouri's new photo 
> ID law exempts senior citizens and people with disabilities (among 
> others) from the photo ID requirement, but makes them cast a provisional 
> ballot that will only be counted if the signature on their ballot matches 
> the signature on their voter registration.
> >
> > We argue that this is not truly a savings clause -- especially for 
> seniors and people with disabilities (but others as well), there is a 
> significant chance that their signatures will not match that on their 
> voter registration. (My mother, for example, has developed a hand tremor 
> as she has aged, and she will never be able to replicate her earlier 
> signature. Her provisional ballot will be rejected.) Moreover, the 
> determination of when the signature matches is left to the total 
> discretion of the local election official. Instead, if these ID proposals 
> must be considered, states should consider provisions of states like 
> Michigan that allow voters without the specific photo ID to sign an 
> affirmation under oath attesting to their identity and cast a regular - 
> not provisional - ballot.
> >
> > For more information on the rash of photo ID proposals that swept the 
> nation this year and some of the legal concerns with them, see our 
> report, "What's Wrong With This Picture? New Photo ID Proposals Part of a 
> National Push to Turn Back the Clock on Voting Rights," which can be found at:
> >
> > 
> http://advancementproject.org/news/press_releases/2011/04/advancement-project-report-highlights-perils-of-photo-id-proposals
> >
> >
> > Denise Lieberman, Senior Attorney
> > Advancement Project
> > 1220 L Street NW, Suite 850
> > Washington, DC 20005
> > Cell: (314) 780-1833
> > dlieberman at advancementproject.org
> > www.advancementproject.org
> >
> > On Jun 8, 2011, at 11:22 AM, Justin Levitt wrote:
> >
> > > I don't know whether this answers the question about partisan 
> affiliation or not, but one factor may be that the Rhode Island bill at 
> least has a safeguard for those who do not have the right photo ID, a 
> feature missing from many of the other recent bills. Under the Rhode 
> Island bill passed by the state Senate, if you don't have ID, you cast a 
> provisional ballot that will count if the signature on the ballot matches 
> the signature on the voter's registration form.
> > >
> > > Justin
> > >
> > > On 6/8/2011 8:59 AM, Rick Hasen wrote:
> > > D'oh. I meant supported almost exclusively by Republicans and opposed 
> almost exclusively by Democrats.
> > >
> > >
> > > On 6/8/2011 8:57 AM, Rick Hasen wrote:
> > > I noted on the blog a few weeks ago that the Rhode Island Senate 
> approved a voter id bill. According to this 
> report<http://www.boston.com/news/local/rhode_island/articles/2011/05/12/ri_senate_to_take_up_voter_id_bill/>, 
> it is going on to the House. I have no idea if the governor would sign it.
> > >
> > > Everywhere else I'm aware of, these bills have been supported almost 
> exclusively by Democrats and opposed almost exclusively by Republicans. 
> Yet the effort in Rhode Island appears 
> bipartisan<http://www.projo.com/news/content/RI_voter_ID_27_03-27-11_J6N78NR_v10.14192d3.html>.
> > >
> > > Can anyone shed any light on why Rhode Island is different?
> > >
> > > Thanks.
> > > --
> > > Rick Hasen
> > > Visiting Professor
> > > UC Irvine School of Law
> > > 401 E. Peltason Dr., Suite 1000
> > > Irvine, CA 92697-8000
> > > 949.824.3072 - office
> > > 949.824.0495 - fax
> > > rhasen at law.uci.edu<mailto:rhasen at law.uci.edu>
> > > http://law.uci.edu/faculty/page1_r_hasen.html
> > >
> > > William H. Hannon Distinguished Professor of Law
> > > Loyola Law School
> > > http://electionlawblog.org
> > >
> > > --
> > > Rick Hasen
> > > Visiting Professor
> > > UC Irvine School of Law
> > > 401 E. Peltason Dr., Suite 1000
> > > Irvine, CA 92697-8000
> > > 949.824.3072 - office
> > > 949.824.0495 - fax
> > > rhasen at law.uci.edu<mailto:rhasen at law.uci.edu>
> > > http://law.uci.edu/faculty/page1_r_hasen.html
> > >
> > > William H. Hannon Distinguished Professor of Law
> > > Loyola Law School
> > > http://electionlawblog.org
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
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> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > > Justin Levitt
> > > Associate Professor of Law
> > > Loyola Law School | Los Angeles
> > > 919 Albany St.
> > > Los Angeles, CA 90015
> > > 213-736-7417
> > > justin.levitt at lls.edu<mailto:justin.levitt at lls.edu>
> > > ssrn.com/author=698321
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