The state Assembly is scheduled to take up voter photo I.D. today. The often passed, often vetoed proposal to require a photo I.D. at polling places remains a bad idea, says state Democratic Party chair Joe Wineke. “What the Republicans have been trying to do, is suppress legitimate citizens' right to vote,” says Wineke. Not so, says state GOP executive director Mark Jefferson, who says Republicans have been more than willing to meet Democrats half way. “It's not a suppression thing,” insists Jefferson. “It's just something that they're not willing to support.” But Wineke says the underlying justification – alleged voter fraud – is not much of an issue, and he notes anemic 20 percent turnout in the Spring elections. “We don't need to make it harder to vote,” he says. The measure should pass the Assembly but is a nonstarter in the Democrat controlled state Senate.
