Voter Arrested After Not Showing Photo ID
FOX 4 News. 07 Aug 2008. Monica Evans

Thousands went to the polls on Tuesday and showed their IDs before they voted. An Independence man who refused to show an ID with his picture and signature ended up in jail, even though showing a photo ID is not required by law.

Missouri doesn't have a law mandating voters present a photo ID to vote. In fact, it was ruled unconstitutional in 2006.

When Phil Lindsey went to vote he said he brought his voter ID card, a utility bill and a bank statement as his identification.  But he said election workers would not allow him vote because they wanted a picture id with his signature on it.

"I handed him my voter ID card and he said that's not enough, I handed him my bank statement and he said, 'I want something with your signature on it and if you don't provide it you must leave,'" he said.

Lindsey said he was upset because he knows by law he doesn't need a photo ID.  According to the Missouri Secretary of State's website, a voter ID card, a bank statement and a utility bill are all acceptable forms of ID for voting.

Charlene Davis from the election board said judges have to learn a lot in their two hour training session and they didn't realize that a bank statement was an acceptable form of ID even though it's right on the list.

"Let's face it most people don't walk in with a bank statement in their back pocket for identification to vote," Charlene Davis, the Republican Director of Elections, said.

Davis said election judges called the Election Board for clarification but by that time Lindsey was screaming and pounding on the desk, so they called police.

Police said Lindsey was arrested for disorderly conduct.

Lindsey said going to jail to proves his point was worth it because election judges don't have a right to make up their own rules.  Lindsey was eventually allowed to vote at the election office after he got out of jail.