INDIANAPOLIS
Poor, black and elderly people tend to be less likely than others to have the photo identification required to vote under Indiana law, opponents of the law said Tuesday, citing a survey of prospective voters.
Democrats, too, are less likely to have the right ID, said the foes who filed a legal brief Tuesday in an effort to persuade the Supreme Court the law is unfair and should be overturned. The court will hear arguments in the case early next year, in the middle of the 2008 election campaign.
The state has defended the law as a way to combat voter fraud. Opponents say it unfairly targets poor and minority voters, without any evidence that voter cheating is a problem in Indiana.
“The alleged ill that this is out to correct doesn’t really exist,” said Justin Levitt, counsel for the Brennan Center for Justice at the NYU School of Law, which filed a brief arguing against the law. “There’s no real justification for putting these people through this.”
The survey, led by a researcher at the University of Washington, found that 86 percent of white eligible voters had current, valid photo identification, compared to 73 percent of black eligible voters.
While many people have driver’s licenses or other identification, the study confirmed that many others don’t, said researcher Matt A. Barreto.
