RICHMOND - Gov. Bob McDonnell has signed legislation into law that will require voters to carry photo identification with them to the polls, starting next year in Virginia. Democrats decried the action as a Jim Crow-era tactic to suppress the votes of the elderly, minorities and the underprivileged. Republicans cheered the new law as a check on potential vote fraud.
Only months after it was implemented with great fanfare, Southern New Hampshire residents have adjusted to the state's new Voter ID Law, according to election officials. Mid-March elections saw voters across the state casting their ballots with little difficulty for the second time since the law took effect during the presidential election in November, Deputy Secretary of State David Scanlan said.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- Arkansas lawmakers gave final approval on March 19 to legislation that would require voters to show photo identification before casting a ballot, sending the Republican-backed measure to Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe's desk.
JUNEAU -- A voter ID bill that drew sharp criticism from Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Begich on his recent visit to the Alaska Legislature is moving forward, with its sponsor denying the senator's claims about the bill.
Arizona Attorney General Thomas C. Horne told the Supreme Court on Monday that states carry the "burden" of determining voter eligibility and they can demand residents prove their citizenship before registering to vote. Conservative-leaning Justice Antonin Scalia seemed to agree with Arizona, saying a sworn oath of citizenship "is not proof at all." Arizona and its supporters -- including other states with plans for similar laws -- say a signature isn't enough to combat voter fraud. And they argue the federal voting-rights law doesn't say that states can't impose additional citizenship requirements.
With the fate of a crucial provision of the Voting Rights Act hanging in the balance, the Supreme Court hears another case challenging the right of a state to put in place new voting requirements Monday. At stake in the case--Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc.-- is whether or not an Arizona law requiring Arizonans to show proof of citizenship at the voting booth will be upheld.
Arizona voters passed a law in 2004 "to combat voter [...]
DES MOINES (AP) -- House Republicans moved forward on Feb. 28 with a proposal that would require Iowa voters to show photo identification at polling places. Lawmakers in the House State Government Committee approved the legislation in a 12-8 vote split along party lines. The measure is backed by Secretary of State Matt Schultz, who has filed identical bills in the House and Senate.
President Obama's State of the Union address last month provided the latest national crisis to be solved by Washington, D.C.: waiting in line to vote. The president shared the emotional saga of Desiline Victor, a Florida centenarian who waited six hours to vote. He announced a presidential commission to address the matter. Unfortunately, the president didn't tell the whole story about long lines and why he has suddenly become concerned.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on a question not touched for nearly 50 years - namely, the question of whether parts of the landmark Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965 still stand the test of constitutionality, and specifically a section that has long plagued states' rights advocates. Unfortunately for liberals, who view the VRA as one of their landmark legislative achievements, the answer to that question may well be "no," as many court analysts seem to have viewed the oral arguments in the case as either an unadulterated disaster for the government, or at least as a strong sign that a majority of the court is willing to consider striking down at least part of the act.