Petitioners challenging Iowa’s voter ID law were in Polk County District court Friday, urging a district judge to temporarily halt enforcement of parts of the law. Ames resident Taylor Blair and the League of United Latin American Citizens of Iowa are suing Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate over the law. The requirements in the law to show identification at the polls don’t go into effect until next year. But on Friday, lawyers for the plaintiffs argued for a temporary injunction to stop the parts of the law that are already in effect dealing with absentee ballots.
Under the law, voters must present identification numbers when they request an absentee ballot; the window for absentee balloting is shorter; and election officials can throw out absentee ballots if they judge that signatures don’t match.
Bruce Spiva is a lawyer for the Washington, D.C.-based firm Perkins Coie which is representing the plaintiffs. He says the Iowa Supreme Court has consistently ruled voting is a fundamental right.
“Even provisions that create a modest restriction on the right to vote the state must articulate real reasons why,” Spiva argued.
Full Article: Arguments Presented in Voter ID Lawsuit | Iowa Public Radio.