Voter ID (H 5680, S 400)

In one of the most disturbing civil liberties setbacks in years, the Governor signed into law a bill requiring voters to present photo identification before casting a ballot at the polls. In testimony before the House and Senate Judiciary committees, the ACLU argued that voter identification legislation was an attempt to fix a non-existent problem of voter impersonation at the cost of disenfranchising eligible voters. Studies have made clear that a voter ID requirement will have a disproportionate and unfair impact on the poor, racial and ethnic minorities, senior citizens and voters with disabilities. A diverse coalition of twenty organizations – including the NAACP, the RI Commission for Human Rights, the AFL-CIO, Common Cause, Ocean State Action and the RI Coalition for the Homeless – joined the ACLU in opposing the bill, but to no avail. The bill passed both Houses by wide margins, and Governor Lincoln Chafee signed it into law a day after it reached his desk. Since January, governors in five other states have vetoed similar laws as being antithetical to the democratic process. More information about the impact of voter ID laws can be found in this fact sheet, a coalition news release here, a coalition letter sent to Governor Chafee here, and list of organizations opposed to voter ID legislation here.