The League of Women Voters says it will file a legal challenge against the state’s new Voter ID law. The group spent most of the summer raising funds to finance the legal challenge, and Executive Director Andrea Kaminski told the state Government Accountability Board on Monday that they are planning to file a lawsuit in the “next few weeks.”
The law approved earlier this year requires voters to show a drivers license or other government-issued ID at the polls in order to obtain a ballot. Kaminski says it puts an unfair burden on voters who may not otherwise need a drivers license by requiring them to go out and obtain a photo ID card from a Division of Motor Vehicles service center. She says that could be a hardship for the elderly, the disabled or low-income residents.
Kaminski says the state Constitution only makes a limited group of people ineligible to receive a ballot and the law is unconstitutional because it goes beyond those restrictions. She says it essentially creates a third class of people, by preventing people without an ID from voting.
Speaking to the board on Monday, Kaminski also raised concerns about reports that the state has not been telling people they can obtain a free photo ID for voting purposes. The law requires the state to provide a free card to anyone who needs one to vote, however DMV officials have drawn fire after a memo was released that shows employees were instructed not to tell customers about the free IDs unless they ask about the program.
Kaminski argue the law is being used as a poll tax, which she says should not be allowed.