Supreme Court to Hear Voter Identification Case

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT/AP: Supreme Court to Hear Voter Identification Case
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: September 25, 2007

SUPREME COURT (AP) -- The Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether voter identification laws unfairly deter poor and minority Americans from voting. The justices will hear arguments early next year, stepping into a contentious partisan issue in advance of the 2008 elections.

The case is a challenge to an Indiana law that requires voters to present photo ID before casting their ballots. The state has defended the law as a way to combat voter fraud.

But the state's Democratic party and civil rights groups have complained that the law unfairly targets poor and minority voters. They says there has been no evidence that in-person voter fraud is a problem in Indiana.

Courts have upheld voter ID laws in Arizona and Michigan, but struck down Missouri's. In June, the Georgia Supreme Court threw out a challenge to that state's law but sidestepped a decision on whether it was constitutional.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Scotus-Voter-ID.html?hp

[NYVet]

1. 1 person, 1 vote?

If the state offers a non driver's identification card to those who don't drive I don't understand the issue.

In NY, it seems like I need photo ID, proof of address and a note from my mother before I can cash a check at my bank or buy a bottle of wine for dinner. Why shouldn't the same standards for ID apply to voting?