What Happened To The Voter ID Controversy?

It seems like only yesterday that the state requirement that citizens had to have photo identification to vote was controversial. More than controversial, actually. Proponents of the law argued that requiring that voters show up at the polling places with photo IDs was just part of a larger effort to try to prevent voter fraud. But wild-eyed critics claimed that the photo ID requirement was actually a plot by Republican legislators to suppress voting by the poor and elderly– who typically vote Democratic, they argued. A primary part of that argument was that, apparently, many of the poor and elderly don’t have photo IDs and can’t figure out how to get one– which seems insulting if you ask me. But the fact is that, sometime back in history, these no-photo-ID people, somehow, at least figured out how to register to vote. Go figure.

But requiring that registered voters have a photo ID is simply discriminatory, the critics said. The Republicans want to keep Grandma Fletcher from voting! No matter that people who want to fly cannot get on an airplane without a photo ID. Is that discriminating against the poor and elderly? And no matter that people who want to enter the federal courthouse here (where the Social Security office is located) can’t get in without a photo ID. Is that discriminating against the poor and elderly? You can’t cash a check at Fausto’s without a photo ID. Is that discriminating against the poor and elderly? Somebody gave me a check the other day and I went to their bank to cash it. And, guess what? They asked me for a photo ID.

In any event, it’s not like photo IDs are hard to come by. IDs accepted at your polling place include a Florida drivers license, a Florida ID card issued ny the Dept. of Public Safety and Motor Vehicles, US passport, a debit or credit card with your photo on it, a military ID, a student ID, retirement center ID, a neighborhood association ID, or even a public assistance ID.

The reason that the critics’ yammering about the voter ID law has quieted to a mere murmur is that the critics have finally recognized that there is no controversy. They have finally figured out that registered voters do not have to have a photo to vote here! Let me say that again. Voters. Do. Not. Have. To. Have. Photo IDs. To. Vote. Here! For example, if Grandma Fletcher votes with an absentee ballot, she does not have to have a photo ID. But her signature does have to match the signature on her registration form. If she chooses to go to the polls to vote, and she does not have a photo ID to show, she can still vote, using a provisional ballot. A provisional ballot is treated like an absentee ballot, with the signature on the ballot compared to the signature on the voter’s registration form.

According to Monroe County Supervisor of Elections Joyce Griffin, 12 provisional ballots were cast in the most recent election because voters did not have photo IDs. All 12 were accepted and counted by the canvassing board. Griffin pointed out that a small number of local voters always vote using provisional ballots “because they simply do not want to show us their photo IDs.”

So rest easy, Key West. Grandma Fletcher can vote if she is registered to vote– and if she wants to vote. Even if she does not have a photo ID.

Dennis Reeves Cooper, Phd

NOTE: Dennis Reeves Cooper founded Key West The Newspaper in 1994 and was editor and publisher for 18 years, until he retired last November. For his next adventure, he has applied to serve in the Peace Corps. While that application is pending, he is contributing a weekly column to the Blue Paper on line.