Photo ID

Key Points

• Voting is a constitutional right.[1]
• Minnesota already has multiple safety-checks on a voter’s eligibility.
• Requiring a government-issued photo identification of registered voters is costly, not needed, and harmful.

Cost—the ID is not really free!

The cost for “free” voter IDs would be paid by taxpayers, who also would have to pay for:

• creating and implementing a provisional balloting system;
• educating citizens and elections staff about the photo ID requirement and provisional balloting system;
• increasing the number of election judges at the polls on Election Day; and
• possibly paying for secondary  documents necessary to obtain a “free” ID (such as a birth certificate, marriage certificate, etc.).

Minnesota is facing a $5 billion deficit — spending millions to implement a photo ID requirement is wasteful.

Currently, there are two bills that contain photo ID requirements. Based on current fiscal notes for the pending bills, costs to the state would be between $5 million and $8 million over four years. The local costs could be between $20 million and $30 million.

Wisconsin determined that a photo ID requirement would cause an annual net revenue loss of $2.7 million,[2] or $10.8 million over four years. And Missouri determined that $6.7 million in 2013 and $3.1 million in 2014[3] would be pulled from the state general fund to implement a photo ID requirement.

Cost — to the citizen to get the ID

Even if taxpayers paid for the photo ID, a citizen would have to get to the county seat or DMV to have a photo taken. Transportation is difficult and costly for many people. The elderly or people with disabilities, who do not drive, would need to find someone to drive them to get a picture taken. Even in urban counties, where there is public transportation, it could be difficult for some to get a photo taken for the ID; in many rural counties, where there may not be public transportation, it could be even more challenging.

No Need—there have been no cases of voter impersonation

Minnesota has had no cases of voter impersonation, which is the only kind of fraud that a government-issued photo ID would prevent. A 2010 report on voter fraud in Minnesota’s 2008 election found that the only convictions for voter fraud were due to felons who voted who had not had their civil rights restored.[4] But a person’s criminal status is not on their driver’s license. In fact, not one single piece of government-issued identification includes a person’s criminal status.

Harm

Impact on registered voters. After Indiana enacted a law requiring photo ID, some people who were registered to vote were turned away because they did not have appropriate identification. More Indiana citizens were disenfranchised by Indiana’s photo ID law in two years than the number of reported cases of impersonation at the polls — from anywhere in the country — in the last twenty years.[5] In fact, a nun who was also a poll worker had to turn away elderly nuns who were registered and whom she knew personally because they did not have valid identification. This is just one example of the negative impact of a photo ID requirement.

Many elderly, disabled, low-income, minority and young voters do not have valid government-issued identification. Some argue that because a photo ID is required to board a plane or requested when seeing a doctor, all people should already have an ID. But, in reality, some Minnesotans have to choose between buying food or buying medicine. They can’t even consider flying somewhere. Yet, they still have the right to vote.

A study[6] found that of registered voters in Indiana, the following did not have a valid photo ID:

Different requirements for voters. Voters who vote at the polls will have a separate set of requirements than those who vote absentee or vote using a mail-in ballot. They must present a photo ID or vote on a provisional ballot, while absentee and mail-in voters have no such requirement. This means that people who vote at the polls face more barriers than people who do not show up to vote at the polls, effectively creating two classes of voters.

A new provisional balloting system that has proven disastrous in other states.  Photo ID legislation currently working its way through the legislature would require Minnesota to create and implement provisional balloting, which we do not currently have. A provisional ballot would be provided to a registered voter who is unable to present the right ID. The voter would then be sent to a separate line to complete the provisional ballot and the provisional ballot envelope. In order for the vote to be counted, the voter would then be forced to go to the County Auditor’s office to provide documentation. In some cases, this could be more than a three-hour drive just to get there and back.

A number of reports, written by diverse organizations including the Brennan Center and the Wall Street Journal, highlight problems with provisional ballots. In Indiana, a state with a photo ID requirement, 80% of the ID-related provisional ballots cast were NOT counted in the 2008 general election. Reasons may have included the fact that poll workers did not complete the provisional ballot form correctly or that voters did not have the time and/or the transportation to get to the County Auditor’s office in the required number of days.

[1] The first words of the 15, 19, and 24 amendments are, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote…” while the 26th amendment also includes language about the right to vote. Also see article 7 of the Minnesota Constitution.

[2] http://legis.wisconsin.gov/2011/data/fe/SB-6fe.pdf

[3] http://www.moga.mo.gov/Oversight/OVER11/fishtm/0283-03N.ORG.htm

[4] Facts about Ineligible Voting and Voter Fraud in Minnesota, Based on Data from Minnesota’s County Attorneys (www.ceimn.org)

[5] Levitt, Justin, Fast Facts on the Impact of Photo ID: The Data. Brennan Center (April 2008) http://www.brennancenter.org/page/-/Democracy/_%20ID-related%20stats.pdf

[6] Ibid.