[EL] voter ID in absentee voting

[Larry Levine]

If you were willing to put in all the time and effort it would take to find
or forge a document in John Smith's name for the purpose of casting one
single extra ballot, then I say more power to you. Talk about a theoretical
discussion . We are taking something less than a mole hill and turning it
into Everest.

Larry

 

From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu
[mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] On Behalf Of Justin
Levitt
Sent: Thursday, August 23, 2012 2:47 PM
To: law-election at department-lists.uci.edu
Subject: Re: [EL] voter ID in absentee voting

 

1.  I believe that Kansas does.  (Wisconsin's law also does; it's been
enjoined, in several cases now working their way through the appellate
system.)

2.  If you believe that ID laws are actually intended to deter or prevent
impersonation, requiring a photocopy of the ID creates some deterrent.  The
absentee ballot is submitted in the name of a particular elector.  The
photocopied document will have to be in the name of that same elector.  (If
I wanted to vote John Smith's absentee ballot, I'd have to find or forge a
document in John Smith's name.)  For those who use driver's licenses or
state ID cards, officials would be able to cross-reference the number on the
card against the ID number assigned to John Smith.  The deterrent isn't
dependent on the photo.  

(Of course, the same is true for those voting in person, which may be one
explanation for HAVA's existing safeguards, which aren't dependent on a
photo either.)

Justin



On 8/23/2012 2:26 PM, Edward Still wrote:

Alabama requires a copy of the photo ID be included with the absentee ballot
(in the mailing envelope and outside the ballot envelope). The NCSL summary
of voter ID laws
<http://www.ncsl.org/legislatures-elections/elections/voter-id.aspx#State_Re
qs>  does not mention this for Alabama, but does for Ohio.

1. Are there other states that require a photo copy of the Voter ID?

2. I don't really understand the idea of requiring the copy for absentee
voting. If I go to vote at the polling place, the poll worker is supposed to
compare my picture to the person standing in front of her. What do the
absentee voting clerks compare the photo on the photo ID to?

Ed

Edward Still
Edward Still Law Firm LLC
130 Wildwood Parkway, Suite 108, PMB 304
Birmingham AL 35209
205-320-2882 (voice & fax)
  still at votelaw.com 
  www.votelaw.com/blog
  www.edwardstill.com <http://www.edwardstill.com/> 
  www.linkedin.com/in/edwardstill





_______________________________________________
Law-election mailing list
Law-election at department-lists.uci.edu
http://department-lists.uci.edu/mailman/listinfo/law-election





-- 
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
ssrn.com/author=698321
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20120823/7723a520/attachment.html>