Mitchell pushes for photo ID requirement for voters

[October 24, 2008]  At a press conference Thursday at the Logan County Courthouse, Rep. Bill Mitchell said that rampant reports of voter fraud reinforce the need for new laws requiring voters to display a valid photo ID before casting their ballots.

"In the aftermath of the 2000 presidential election, the mantra was, 'Let every vote count.' In 2008 the mantra should be, 'Let every legal vote count and just once,'" Mitchell said. "We need our next president to take office with full legitimacy." Mitchell quoted John Fund, author of "Stealing Elections."

Forty percent of the country already has substantial questions about whether or not votes are counted fairly and accurately. About 60 percent of that 40 percent thinks there is a large amount of voter fraud.

"We saw what happened in Washington in 2004, during the governor's race, which was decided by 133 votes," Fund said. "It was proven that more dead people and more felons voted in that election than the 133-vote margin (of victory)."

Mitchell is responding to outrageous media reports about dead fish and Mickey Mouse being registered to vote and stories that the entire Dallas football team has been registered to vote in Nevada. And authorities in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, are investigating complaints of wrongdoing regarding registration efforts by ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, after a man confessed to completing 73 registration cards in exchange for cigarettes and a $20 bill.

"ACORN this year hired 13,000 workers to register new voters. According to The Associated Press, they submitted 1.3 million registration cards to local election officials, and a number of those registrations were obviously phony," Mitchell said. "People deserve to have their voice heard, and it is our right as Americans to vote. Unfortunately, voter fraud such as this undermines democracy."

During the upcoming fall veto session, Mitchell wants lawmakers to consider House Bill 4403, which would require citizens to show valid photo identification before entering the voting booth and would require the secretary of state to issue voter identification cards to all registered voters who do not already have acceptable identification.

House Bill 4403 would make provisional ballots available to people attempting to vote but lacking the required identification. Indigent voters and voters with religious objections to being photographed would also have the opportunity to cast provisional ballots.

The bill would allow precinct workers to accept the following forms of identification: Illinois driver's license, state identification card, Illinois disabled person identification card, senior citizen identification card, FOID card, U.S. passport or any other government-issued identification that includes the voter's name, current photograph and current address.

To obtain a voter identification card, individuals would have to produce: (1) documentation of the voter's name, address and date of birth; (2) evidence of voter registration; and (3) a photo identity document.

According to Mitchell, in April the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Indiana's voter identification law, which is similar to House Bill 4403, and several other courts have rejected Democratic challenges to voter identification laws in Arizona, Georgia and Michigan.

"This past spring we were able to get this bill through the House Elections and Campaign Reform Committee, but Democrat leaders from Chicago have blocked the measure and reassigned the bill to the House Rules Committee to die," Mitchell said. "I will push for this bill to be released and voted upon by the full House upon our return to Springfield for the fall veto session. I believe asking voters to show proof of their identity before entering the voting booth will go a long ways toward eliminating voter fraud and maintaining the integrity of our election process."

Mitchell wanted to make it clear that in his district, which is primarily smaller communities where everyone knows each other, voter fraud isn't an issue. But voter fraud in more heavily populated areas in fact undermines the votes of honest voters throughout the state.

When asked if the bill faced any opposition, Mitchell responded, "For some reason some legislators believe this is unconstitutional." He cited that the courts have already ruled that a photo ID is not an infringement on an individual's rights.

He finished by stating that if House Speaker Madigan allows the bill, currently in its second reading, to come to a vote this November, and if it is also passed by the Senate, it could go into effect in mid-2009.

[Text from file received from state Rep. Bill Mitchell; LDN staff]