Proposed Ohio law may require voters to show photo ID

The Ohio legislature may soon take up a bill requiring voters to show photo identification on Election Day if they wish to cast a ballot. House Bill 159 would require a photo ID, driver’s license, passport, or US military ID card from anyone who wishes to vote in person. Currently, voters in Ohio need to prove residency, (which they can do with a driver’s license, utility bill, or bank statement) and provide their signature. They are not required to show a photo ID.

Peg Rosenfield of the League of Women Voters of Ohio provided testimony before the House State Government and Elections Committee on March 22, 2011 in opposition to House Bill 159, stating: “Ohio’s voters’ right to vote is being diminished because of barriers being placed in front of citizens before they can exercise their right to vote.  The burden of providing additional identification beyond the signature to prove who they are is being placed on the voter and this is going to discourage many eligible voters from exercising their rights.” Rosenfield went on to say “The four forms of authorized photo ID do not testify to residency (the driver’s license or state ID do not need to have the current address, and neither the military ID nor the passport has an address).  So they will do nothing to address the concern about voters who vote in a precinct that is not their own.”

The ACLU of Ohio also spoke about the disenfranchisement of Ohio voters. Said ACLU of Ohio staff counsel Carrie Davis: “Requiring photo identification will place another unnecessary hurdle before Ohioans who wish to cast ballots but do not have access to a photo ID. The legislation only provides a vague promise that free IDs will be provided to those who cannot pay, but does not say how someone would qualify for one…There is little evidence of in person voter fraud to justify such hasty action. Lawmakers must slow down the process to consider the ramifications of this bill on voters and our cash-strapped budget.”

The bill would also allow for those who cannot afford a state ID card to get one for free, though it does not specify how the cards would be paid for. The League of Women Voters of Ohio’s IMPACT newsletter points out a Brennan Center report on the high costs of voter ID laws in other states, not only in terms of providing IDs, but also in terms of enforcement.