Voter Photo ID

“The League of Women Voters of New Hampshire has produced two flyers explaining what voters will need to know to vote. ... ‘We’re concerned that people will believe that they can’t vote if they don’t have a photo ID. That is not the case, even with the new law,’ said Liz Tentarelli, co-president of the league’s state chapter.”

“The first legal test for Pennsylvania’s tough new voter identification law began Wednesday, with state lawyers calling the measure a completely rational step, while opponents attacked it as an unnecessary, unjustified and partisan scheme that will deprive countless people of their right to vote.”

“Sixty-year-old Wilola Lee of Philadelphia says she's voted in almost every presidential election since the '70s. ... But, in November, under the voter identification law passed in Pennsylvania, Lee may not be able to cast a ballot.”

“As the Justice Department investigates Pennsylvania’s voter ID law on the federal level, a coalition of civil rights groups is gearing up for a state trial starting Wednesday ... Pennsylvania might have handed those groups and their clients...a bit of an advantage: They’ve formally acknowledged that there’s been no reported in-person voter fraud in Pennsylvania and there isn’t likely to be in November.”

“The League of Women Voters is trying to make sure voters in Lancaster County [PA] are aware of the state's new identification law. About 20,000 voters in the county do not have the identification needed to cast ballots in the Nov. 6 election, and many of them do not know it.”

“During oral arguments … in League of Women Voters of Minnesota v. Ritchie [PDF], veteran MN Supreme Court Justice Paul H. Anderson suggested that the issue before the Court, of whether the ballot question was misleading, was more profound than even the League's attorney, William Pentelovitch, was characterizing it.”

“'These laws are hitting roadblocks because they were problematic to begin with,' says Andrea Kaminski, executive director of the Wisconsin League of Women Voters.”

The Brennan Center's latest research reveals the extent of the obstacles challenging 3-4 million voters in affected states across the country as they try to obtain valid voter photo IDs.

“As the League of Women Voters of Michigan noted, that state ‘follows federal law for verifying new registrants' identity and the voter's signature is compared to the signature on file to confirm identity for absentee voting. These methods work very well and there is no evidence of voter impersonation in our elections.’"

“A second judge has declared Wisconsin's voter ID law unconstitutional, further guaranteeing that the ID requirement will not be in place for elections this fall.”