Today, the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in a case that will determine whether an Indiana law requiring all voters to present a government-issued photo identification before voting is unconstitutional. Opponents of the law argue that it unfairly impacts elderly people of color and the poor.
Michael J. Pitts, associate professor of law at the Indiana University School of Law, says the decision on today’s arguments could go either way.
“Not even the best political experts could predict the outcome to this case,” Pitt suggests. With little precedent on the issue, “The Supreme court is basically operating on a clean slate.”
Other states have also grappled with the question of government-issued photo IDs, and litigation is pending in federal court against similar laws in Georgia and Arizona.
In July of 2007, the Indiana American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) acting on behalf of a broad coalition of advocacy groups including the Indianapolis chapter of the NAACP, filed a lawsuit to clarify whether the ID statute violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution.
“This requirement is going to burden some people’s ability to vote. Studies show that people included in that category are disproportionately the poor, elderly and minorities,” says Kenneth Falk, legal director for the Indiana ACLU.
The purpose of the government-issued photo ID statute is to eliminate voter fraud, such as ballots being cast by deceased citizens. But, according to Pitts, government-issued ID requirements are ineffective.
