Janice Brady votes every chance she gets, and thinks a new Rhode Island law asking voters to show identification at the polls will protect the integrity of the state’s elections. That law will have its first statewide test on Tuesday, when Rhode Island holds its presidential primary. So Brady, 69, lined up last week with 25 other residents at the Charlesgate apartments in Providence to get a new voter ID. “It sounds like a good idea to me,” said Brady, who said she has no current driver’s license or other acceptable ID. “I don’t mind showing it.” Voters will be asked to present identification such as a driver’s license, U.S. passport, military ID, Social Security card, birth certificate or even a utility bill or health club ID. Voters who fail to present the necessary identification will only be allowed to cast a provisional ballot, which must be approved by election officials before being counted. Starting in 2014, only identification with a photo will be accepted.
The state’s General Assembly passed the new law last year. Supporters say the measure is intended to prevent voter fraud. But critics worry it could disenfranchise poor, disabled or elderly voters who are most likely to lack the right paperwork. Rhode Island Secretary of State Ralph Mollis, a Democrat who pushed for the law, said showing ID at the polls is a relatively easy way to prevent someone from committing voter fraud, either by impersonating another at the polls, voting twice or casting a ballot in a race in which they’re ineligible to vote.
Full Article: RI readies for statewide test of voter ID law – Boston.com.