As a bill that would require voters to show valid photo ID at the polls works its way to the state Senate, some officials are raising concerns about the as-yet-unknown ramifications if it passes. “No one ever called and asked if there were voter fraud issues,” Cumberland County Commissioner Rick Rovegno said.
The purpose of the bill is to prevent voter fraud by requiring state-issued or state-approved photo ID from voters before they are allowed to vote at the polls on an election day. “We meet with the state legislation delegation quarterly. We always exchange ideas, talk over issues. This matter no one talked about,” Rovegno said. “We’ve never had any issues of voter fraud,” Penny Brown, director of county voter services, said.
“It’s unclear to me how they’re going to handle the absentee ballot issue,” she said. “How do we verify the photo ID? They can’t put a copy of the photo ID in with the ballot. What about the provisional ballots? If they don’t have a valid or state-approved ID, they’re offered a provisional ballot and then they have six days to come back with the photo ID.”That’s six days we’re going to lose” in calculating and posting the results, she said.
“If we really feel we need to roll this out, we should do it in an off-year election so we can kind of kick the tires,” Rovegno said. “I understand the political need to do it in the 2012 presidential election year,” he added.
“If it’s not broke, don’t fix it. If it’s not politically motivated, then a good process would be for the legislature to reach out, ask us what our concerns are, what the remedies are, take them back to the front-line staff, get their input. Then what is being proposed might allow for the smooth, efficient operation of elections,” he said.
Full Article: Cumberlink.com: Officials concerned about voter ID bill.