FILE – In this Jan. 8, 2020, file photo, Republican state Sen. Robby Mills, right, discusses his bill in Frankfort, Ky., that would require Kentuckians to present photo identification in order to vote. The bill won a quick endorsement from Secretary of State Michael Adams, left. Republican lawmakers in Kentucky swept aside the Democratic governor’s veto of the bill. Votes to override Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto easily cleared the GOP-led Senate and House as lawmakers reconvened Tuesday, April 14, for a wrap-up session amid the coronavirus outbreak. (AP Photo/Bruce Schreiner, File)
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Republican lawmakers in Kentucky swept aside the Democratic governor’s veto of a bill to require the state’s residents to show a government-issued photo ID in order to vote.
Votes
to override Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto easily cleared the GOP-led Senate
and House as lawmakers reconvened Tuesday for a wrap-up session amid the
coronavirus outbreak.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky promptly said it will consider filing legal action to try to halt the measure.
The measure would require Kentucky residents to produce a photo ID when voting, with limited exceptions, starting with the November election.
The
bill’s supporters have noted that a photo ID already is required for
many other transactions, including opening a bank account, cashing a
check or picking up sports tickets at will-call.
Republican
Sen. Robby Mills, the bill’s lead sponsor, said Tuesday that it would
add “guardrails in our voting procedures that will help cure
vulnerabilities that exist.”
The
bill’s opponents pointed to the absence of voter impersonation cases in
Kentucky. They said the photo ID requirement will reduce turnout among
minorities, the poor, the elderly and disabled voters. Currently,
Kentucky voters are asked to show identification but it doesn’t have to
be a photo ID.
In
trying to block the measure, the governor said it would create an
obstacle to voting, resulting in fewer people casting ballots and
“undermining our democracy.”
In
his recent veto message, Beshear also objected to the bill’s timing,
coming in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. The offices where
people could obtain a photo ID needed to vote are currently closed and
it’s uncertain when they will reopen, the governor said.
Mills discounted that argument Tuesday during the Senate debate to override the veto.
“I
am sure that we will have those clerks’ offices open and doing business
later in the spring or summer,” he said. “And there’s going to be ample
opportunities for folks that do not have a valid photo ID to obtain
that free photo ID that is allowed in this piece of legislation.”
The
bill’s leading supporters include Kentucky’s new Republican secretary
of state, Michael Adams, who campaigned on the issue en route to his
election victory last year.
Under the measure, people lacking their photo ID at the polls could vote by provisional ballot and later produce that ID to enable their ballot to be counted. Or voters could cast their ballots if recognized by an election officer, who would have to sign a document affirming to knowing the voter.
ACLU
of Kentucky legal director Corey Shapiro denounced the proposal Tuesday
as a “voter suppression measure in the name of election security.” He
also expressed concern about the bill’s “rushed timeline,” coming months
before a hotly contested general election.
“We
are currently evaluating whether to seek court intervention to make
sure every eligible voter can still cast a ballot under this oppressive
measure,” he said in a statement.
In
November, Kentuckians will vote for a president and decide one of the
nation’s highest-profile campaigns: Republican Senate Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell’s bid for reelection.
Source: Mountain Top
