Why would a requirement for a specific id be controversial?
Getting a drivers' license or state-issued ID usually requires
a birth certificate, and getting those can cost $15 or more.
Opponents of these laws claim it amounts to a poll tax to prevent the
poor from voting.
Since minority and poor voters tend to be Democrats, opponents
claim that the law favors Republicans.
On the other hand, supporters of voter ID laws say they just want to
prevent fraud and have a fair voting system.
Why was Missouri's voter
ID law overturned?
The Missouri Supreme Court found that the law violated the state Constitution,
which has specific provisions for voting rights.
In particular, the cost to obtain a birth certificate needed for the
state ID violated our state Constitution.
Doesn’t everyone in the state have a valid state
issued ID? How many people would have been affected by this?
An estimated 200,000 Missourians would have needed to obtain new IDs
in order to vote.
We need to continue to strike a balance between discrimination
and Americans having open access to voting.
