"ID and the Right to Vote"

Dan Tokaji offers this insightful post at the Ohio State election law website. A snippet:

In their present form, the ID bills presently on the table are likely unconstitutional. The Supreme Court has long held that election practices discriminating against poor voters violate the principle of equal protection. In Harper v. State of Virginia , the Court struck down a $1.50 state poll tax for precisely this reason. “The principle that denies the State the right to dilute a citizen's vote on account of his economic status,” the Harper Court held, “bars a system which excludes those unable to pay a fee to vote or who fail to pay.” In the course of its opinion, the Court noted the possibility that the poll tax was being used to discriminate against black voters.

Dan also reacts to my recent proposal for universal voter registration coupled with a government issued voter i.d. card.

Posted by Rick Hasen at April 13, 2005 07:42 AM