Missouri Republicans may have muscled through a voter ID law on Wednesday, but their veto session victory could be relatively short-lived, if court rulings in other states are any indication. Before any court challenges can be filed, however, voters will have their say. The vetoed law overridden by lawmakers this week is tied to a referendum on Nov. 8, when Missouri voters will be asked whether to amend the state constitution to require voter identification. If they approve, the law would go into effect in 2017. At issue is whether requiring Missouri residents to present a photo identification before voting disenfranchises certain groups, including people of color, the elderly, the poor and students. Missouri Republicans, like their GOP counterparts in other states, argue that showing a photo ID is a common-sense way to prevent voter fraud. Democrats say voter fraud isn’t a pervasive problem, and that voter ID legislation is merely a way to suppress minority voters who tend to support more liberal candidates. Recently, courts throughout the country have agreed.
A federal appeals court struck down North Carolina’s voter identification law in July, ruling that the measure targeted “African-Americans with almost surgical precision.” The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against reinstating it the following month.
A U.S. district judge threw out part of Wisconsin’s 2011 voter ID law, ruling that “a preoccupation with mostly phantom election fraud leads to real incidents of disenfranchisement which undermine rather than enhance confidence in elections.”
On similar grounds, a federal appeals court tossed Texas’ voter ID law on July 20. With these rulings and others, the future of voter ID in Missouri remains murky.
Full Article: Missouri voters will now get a say in voter ID, but law could still be challenged in court | Political Fix | stltoday.com.