The Voter ID Act
The Voter ID Act has one simple aim: Make sure that only you can cast your vote
and that each vote cast is from a registered voter. We must be ready to show picture ID when we
write a check, use a credit card, ride a plane, or drive a car. Why not present picture ID
when we exercise our most important right - the one through which we protect all of our other rights?
Here are the facts:
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Currently, poll workers are instructed that they CANNOT ask for ID except in very narrow circumstances.
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Voter fraud is easy. Lists of people (names and addresses) who are registered but have not voted in the past
five elections are readily available. With these lists in hand, would-be criminals have an easy method
for finding votes to steal.
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Other states already require picture ID to vote and it does not intimidate lawful voters. The
National Conference of State Legislatures did a survey of states in August of 2006. NCSL found that
twenty four states have broader voter identification requirements than what HAVA mandates. In these states, all
voters are asked to show identification prior to voting. Seven of these states specify that voters must show
a photo ID and the other seventeen states accept additional forms of identification that do not
necessarily include a photo.
NCSL Survey of States
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The Legislature won't fix it. There have been numerous bills introduced since 2000 that would
have required picture ID to vote, but they are always killed in committee. (See House - AB 1045 in 2000,
Ackerman - AB 120 in 2000, Ackerman - SB 3 in 2001, Mountjoy - AB 397 in 2001, Cox - AB 2665 in 2002,
Morrow - SB 1282 in 2003, Cox - AB AB 247 in 2004).
Most recently, Senator Cox introduced SB 226 on February 15, 2005,
and Assemblyman Keene introduced AB 1006 on
February 22, 2005. Both of the current bills would be a huge step in the right direction. While we
strongly encourage Senator Cox and Assemblyman Keene to move forward with these bills, we have no reason to
believe the majority will do anything different than they have done to all the rest of the bills on
this subject submitted over the past five years. We applaud these legislators, and the Coauthors of those
bills, Senators Aanestad, Ackerman, Battin, Dutton, Hollingsworth, Margett, McClintock, and Runner, and
Assembly Members Blakeslee, La Malfa, Leslie, Maze, Niello, Sharon Runner, Strickland and Walters.
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Former Secretary of State Kevin Shelley did everything he could to prevent ID from being required.
Federal law (the Help America Vote Act) now requires that new voters who register by mail present picture ID
the first time they vote. Instead of requiring everyone to present ID, Shelley tried to make sure
that we ask for ID only from those new voters and no one else. His idea of improving the
process is to "setup a hotline for the reporting of alleged illegal application of identification
requirements" - he wants to punish the poll workers who ask for ID too often.
Source: My Vote Counts: The California Plan for Voting in the 21st Century, page 16.
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Current Regulations Make even the HAVA Requirements Meaningless -
Regulations adopted
to implement HAVA define a photo ID as including everything from a health club ID card to
a Disneyland annual passport (any identification card provided by a commercial establishment
with a name and picture).
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Just take their word for it! Under current California law, only a member of the
precinct board can challenge a person if they believe the person is not who they say they
are (Elections Code 14240(a)). If
that person swears or affirms that they are the person whose name is entered on the index, the
challenge must be resolved in favor of the person trying to vote. (Elections Code Section 14246).
Here is what we have to do:
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Obtain at least 373,816 valid signatures by August 1, 2005. This will allow us approximately one week to
complete our final checking, sorting and counting and have everying filed by the deadline, August 8, 2005.
It will also expedite the certification process. Collecting 411,198 valid signatures will allow expedited
approval by the Secretary of State. To avoid any doubt, we will try to collect 500,000 signatures by that date.
OR
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Sufficiently inspire the legislature to take the steps it should have taken years ago and fix
the problem through legislation. There are many other parts of the process that need consideration and numerous
other regulations that should change if this proposition is adopted. It is fully within their power to
do the right thing and adopt these changes before we ever file the signatures.
Requiring picture ID is the only sensible way to protect our most precious right.
Now is the time for voters to take back their right to vote.
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