Mitchell pushes for photo ID requirement for voters
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[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.
![Water](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2008/Oct/24/images/ads/current/culligan%20bca%20073007.png)
"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.
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![Furniture](../images/ads/current/jakes_lda080108.png)
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.
![Pharmacy](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2008/Oct/24/images/ads/current/stacy_bc-060308.png)
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] |