The Voting News Daily: Kansas Senate, Ohio and Texas Houses approve Voter ID Bills

KS: Senate Approves Voter ID Bill – WIBW.com

The Kansas Senate has approved a bill containing Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s proposal to require voters to show photo identification at the polls. The vote Wednesday was 36-3. The Senate version of the bill still includes Kobach’s proposal to require people registering to vote for the first time in Kansas to prove they’re citizens, but that would be delayed until 2013. Kobach and the House wanted that provision to take effect next year. The Senate’s version of the bill also omits proposals from Kobach to increase penalties for election crimes and to give the secretary of state’s office the authority to file and prosecute voter fraud cases in state courts. Read More

OH: Amid rancor, voter-ID bill moves to Senate | The Columbus Dispatch

With Democrats invoking racist images of the nation’s past and accusing Republicans of trying to disenfranchise minorities and the poor, the Ohio House voted yesterday along party lines to impose a new requirement that voters show a photo ID at the polls. House Speaker William G. Batchelder, R-Medina, said he was “a little bit embarrassed by the floor debate,” which featured passionate speeches mixed with repeated mentions by Democrats of Jim Crow laws and how the bill represents a modern-day poll tax. Read More

TX: Emotional voter ID bill debate ends in passage – statesman.com

Democrats in the usually congenial Texas House gave heated speeches Wednesday – sometimes with raised voices – against the Republicans’ voter ID bill, which they said discriminates against minorities. But after a long day and night of debate, Democrats just didn’t have to votes to significantly change or derail the measure. The bill passed 101-48. The Senate passed its version earlier in the legislative session. Both chambers were tasked by Gov. Rick Perry with making voter ID legislation a priority. The measure would require Texans to show a valid photo ID – such as a driver’s license or state-issued ID card, a military ID or a passport – to vote. The measure in the House is more stringent than the Senate version. Speaking against the bill, Rep. Rafael Anchía, D-Dallas , said there is “intentional disenfranchising of African Americans and Latinos” in the bill.  Full Article

North Carolina: Proposed North Carolina Voter ID bill could be too costly | KTVD-TV

Legislative staff has come up with a non-partisan fiscal note on voter identification. On the high end, it shows the cost to the state could be two-and-a-half million dollars. But critics say that’s way under what other states have reported and isn’t close to what the actual cost may be. The fiscal note offers a range of what requiring voters to show identification at the polls could cost. On the low end the cost is almost $850,000, and on the high end, the cost is almost $2.5 million.

There are a lot of unknowns such as what it would cost counties. “What’s shocking about this estimate, it’s full of lines like ‘could not be determined,’ ‘could not be estimated,’ ‘was not included in this estimate,'” said Chris Kromm, Institute for Southern Studies.

Minnesota: Minnesota Voter ID bill would cost state many millions | MinnPost.com

Voter ID bills introduced early in the legislative session have languished for many reasons, but they might be mostly burdened by their potential costs. We wrote about some feared costs before, particularly as they apply to proposed electronic pollbooks.

Now, Minnesota Common Cause and Citizens for Election Integrity Minnesota have compiled a detailed review (PDF) of the costs of House File 210 — which requires Voter ID and institutes the electronic voter check-in system statewide — and House File 89, which simply requires photo ID for voters. Bottom line: $84 million over three years for H.F. 210, and $25 million for H.F. 89.