Leave No ID Behind, Said the Poll Workers

| Thu Nov. 16, 2006 10:21 AM PST

Many people who made the grave error of not updating their drivers' licenses after moving [gasp] were rejected from the polls last Tuesday. The GOP's latest disenfranchisement strategy, tightening voter-ID requirements, might have worked a little too well. Among those rejected was Republican Rep. Steve Chabot of Ohio. (Republican Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina was also turned away but not because of a new law). They had enough time and will to go home and retrieve another ID. God only knows how many people didn't.

Poll workers zealously enforced new requirements, even in states where courts had struck them down. For one, Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan had to argue her way into the booth.

The requirements are a complicated patchwork of laws across the country. States that have recently tightened laws and now require a photo ID are Arizona, Indiana, New Mexico (but only in Albuquerque), and Ohio (but only for in-precinct voting, and a lawsuit is still pending). On the other hand, courts blocked laws that legislatures passed that would require IDs in Georgia and Missouri. Michigan's Supreme Court is currently debating a photo-ID requirement and Arizona has increased the documentation you need to register to vote.

Here are the laws in every state.

—April Rabkin

Get Mother Jones by Email - Free. Like what you're reading? Get the best of MoJo three times a week.

Advertisement