The Washington Post
Adding fuel to an already contentious debate over voter identification laws, Virginia’s State Board of Elections decided this week that voters must present a current photo ID or one that has expired within the past year to cast a ballot.
The Republican-controlled board voted 2 to 0 Wednesday, with the Democrat absent, to narrow the definition of a valid ID, a move that one board member said would streamline and simplify the rules.
“We believe it’s a compromise and gives people a reasonable grace period,” said Donald Palmer, who was appointed to the board by former governor Robert F. McDonnell (R).
But Democrats and voting rights advocates argued that the new guideline will confuse voters less than two weeks before a special election where the new rule is expected to apply.
“The board’s decision today makes it that much more difficult for voters to participate in our democracy,” said Tram Nguyen, co-director of Virginia New Majority. “Our elections should be free, fair and accessible. Needlessly restricting the forms of voting ID only makes it more difficult.”
The board’s decision is the latest development in national debate over voter ID that has played out in Virginia.
The commonwealth has had identification requirements in place for years, but more recently Republicans have enacted increasingly strict limits on what constitutes an acceptable ID. They argued that previous laws were too loose and did not combat voter fraud.
Democrats say voter ID laws are part of a Republican strategy to suppress the votes of minorities, the elderly, college students and the poor, contending that they are more likely to vote for Democrats and less likely to have valid identification than other voters.
Nguyen said about 300,000 Virginia voters lack an ID issued by the state Division of Motor Vehicles. She also questioned how election officials would handle student and employee IDs, which often do not display expiration dates.
Of four upcoming special elections, Nguyen said only a town council race in Farmville will be subject to the new rules — a circumstance that could lead to even more voter confusion, she said. The rules will apply to the November general election, where voters will cast ballots in a U.S. Senate race and in all 11 of Virginia’s congressional districts.
The latest battle began with a proposal sponsored by state Sen. Mark D. Obenshain (R-Harrisonburg) to require voters to present a valid photo ID at their polling place. Previously, voters could choose from a long list of accepted identification that did not necessarily have to include their photograph.
In early June, the Board of Elections approved a definition of what constitutes a “valid” photo ID that did not take into account the expiration date. Then, Obenshain issued letter to state board questioning their definition and sparking debate over what “valid” really means.
“Given the significance of this issue and the clear tension between elements of this rule and provisions of state election law, I would urge the Board of Elections to revisit this matter immediately and to open any subsequent action to public comment,” he wrote.
The board proposed that the valid identification include current IDs and IDs that weren’t expired for more than 30 days.
Attorney General Mark R. Herring, who defeated Obenshain for the job last fall, said in an opinion requested by the elections board that the 30-day expiration requirement could have been applied inconsistently. Herring (D) was not asked to weigh in on Wednesday’s new definition.
The board took public comment for three weeks, and when it came time to make a final decision Wednesday, came up with another alternative entirely.
“Agencies give more credence to recently expired IDs, than an open-ended system,” Palmer said.
Under the new guideline, election officials cannot accept photo IDs that expired more than one year before Election Day. Valid forms of ID include a driver’s license or other photo ID issued by Virginia, a U.S. passport, a photo ID issued by the federal government, a student ID that has a photograph and was issued by a school in Virginia and an employee ID card with a photograph.
Voting rights advocates say any voter can obtain a free photo ID from any local registrar’s office. For more information, they can visit www.GotIDVirginia.org or call the election protection hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE.
