I was reading in the RSC blog about a bill called the Federal Election Integrity Act of 2006 (HR 4844). This bill would amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 by REQUIRING photo ID be presented at federal elections beginning in November of 2008. (As HR 4844 was originally introduced, the date was 2006 but the bill languished too long, darn it.) The bill will also appropriate some money to states to enable indigent people to get a photo ID. I think Georgia had a similar law just struck down by a court in their state, so if it somehow gets through the Senate I’m thinking the ACLU will attempt to block implementation in record time!
The one point that made me decide to post this bill was the Constitutional reference in the RSC blog post, and sure enough it says in black and white on my copy, “The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.” (Article I, Section 4). The reason Senators were exempt at the time was because they were originally chosen by the state legislatures, the Seventeenth Amendment did away with that practice. (Personally I think all three amendments from 16th to 18th were mistakes, unfortunately we’ve only gotten rid of the 18th.)
While I read the blog post from a couple days ago, I also saw that this bill did pass the House on a 228-196 vote, with 4 Democrats siding with the majority and 3 Republicans with the minority.
Just for fun on the Thomas website, I found a list of 89 groups opposing this bill. Here’s those groups.
A. Philip Randolph Institute; ACORN; Advancement Project; Aguila Youth Leadership Institute; Alliance for Retired Americans; American Association of People with Disabilities; American Association of Retired Persons (AARP); American Civil Liberties Union; American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona; American Federation of Labor–Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO); American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; American Immigration Lawyers Association; American Policy Center; Americans for Democratic Action; Arizona Advocacy Network; Arizona Consumers Council; Arizona Hispanic Community Forum; Arizona Students’ Association; Asian American Justice Center; Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund; Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIA Vote); Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO; Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law; Center for Digital Democracy; Common Cause; Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility; Concerned Foreign Service Officers; Congressional Hispanic Caucus; Consumer Action; Cyber Privacy Project; Democratic Women’s Working Group; De.AE8mos: A Network for Ideas & Action; Electronic Privacy Information Center; Emigrantes Sin Fronteras; Fairfax County Privacy Council; Friends Committee on National Legislation; Hispanic Federation; Hispanic National Bar Association; Interfaith Worker Justice of Arizona; Intertribal Council of Arizona; Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), La Union Del Pueblo Entero (LUPE); Labor Council for Latin American Advancement; Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; Leadership Conference on Civil Rights; League of United Latin American Citizens; League of Women Voters of Greater Tucson; League of Women Voters of the United States; Legal Momentum; Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund; National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund; National Center for Transgender Equality; National Congress of American Indians; National Council of Jewish Women; National Council of La Raza; National Disability Rights Network; National Education Association; National Korean American Service & Education Consortium; National Urban League; National Voting Rights Institute; Navajo Nation; New York Public Interest Research Group, Inc./NYPIRG; Ohio Taxpayers Association & OTA Foundation; People for the American Way Foundation; Project for Arizona’s Future; Protection and Advocacy System; RainbowPUSH Coalition; Republican Liberty Caucus; SEIU Local 5 Arizona; Service Employees International Union (SEIU); Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF); Somos America/We Are America; Southwest Voter Registration Education Project; The Multiracial Activist; The Rutherford Institute; Tohono O’odham Nation; Transgender Law Center; U.S. PIRG; Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations; United Auto Workers; United Church of Christ Justice & Witness Ministries; United Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society; United States Student Association; United Steelworkers; UNITE-HERE; Velvet Revolution; William C. Velasquez Institute; YWCA USA.
The only ones I can’t figure out are the Ohio Taxpayers Association, Republican Liberty Caucus, and The Rutherford Institute. Apparently the federal intervention outweighs the fact that it’s spelled out in the Constitution and I’m betting that’s what the 3 Republicans saw as their guide to vote against the act. The OTA probably sees this as another unfunded federal mandate. There’s arguments to be had from each group but on balance I think this bill’s become necessary.
Regardless, voter ID is one step closer to reality although I doubt the Senate will take this up because; to be honest, they’re pretty gutless about pissing off some of the above groups – particularly the Hispanic ones. So this may be all ado over nothing but I’ll have to take small victories where I can find them. There was one tonight I wasn’t going to win so here’s a little consolation.
