Voter identification bill heads to governor

Picture ID to be required

By JENNIFER WHITSON Courier & Press Indianapolis
April 13, 2005

INDIANAPOLIS - A bill to require Hoosiers to show a government-issued picture identification to vote is on its way to Gov. Mitch Daniels, who will most likely sign it into law.

On Tuesday, the Senate voted 33 to 17 to agree with changes the House made to the bill. Under the measure, voters who go to the polls to cast their ballots must show picture IDs issued by the state or federal government. Those who vote via absentee ballots, either by mail or in person, do not have to meet the requirement.

  
Under the bill, anyone who is 18 years old or older and does not have a driver's license can get a free state ID card. Backers say the change is necessary to prevent voter fraud. If the proposal becomes law, Indiana would have the most stringent voter ID law in the nation.

"I'm not ashamed of that," said the author, Sen. Victor Heinhold, R-Kouts. "I'm proud that Indiana is leading the way on this."

Opponents said the measure was just another hurdle to voting and won't address any of Indiana's known fraud cases that all involved absentee ballots.

"We should ... be making it easier for Hoosiers to vote, not more restrictive and intimidating," said Sen. Larry Lutz,

D-Evansville. "Why should we put this additional burden on Hoosier voters?"

The measure allows those who don't have a picture ID to cast a provisional ballot and come before the voter board with a valid ID within a week. But Lutz cited a study that showed only 15 percent of provisional ballots were reviewed to see if the voter was eligible in the last election. The remaining 85 percent were thrown out without being counted because of poll worker error in filling out the forms.

The Senate decision to agree with the House changes and send the act to the governor fell strictly on party lines. Sen. Greg Server, R-Evansville, voted for the bill. Sens. Lindel Hume, D-Princeton, and Larry Lutz, D-Evansville, voted against it.

On Tuesday, Daniels said he still needed to review the bill but most likely will sign it into law.