Photo ID for Voters?

Indiana has a strict requirement that all voters must present a photo ID when they come to the polling place to vote. The sides of the question are pretty obvious. The State wants to prevent voter fraud. The liberals whine that such a requirement will disenfranchise the poor, the elderly and the minority voters by deterring them from casting their votes. You can perhaps see where I fall on this issue by the way I phrased that.

In a strange 6–3 vote, the United States Supreme Court saw the light and upheld the Indiana requirements. Score one for the good guys. I say a strange vote because the majority opinion is written by Justice Stevens – who is typically found on the liberal side of the arguments.

It is noted that the Indiana law provided two unusual components – first state will provide a free photo ID for the poor – and second, If a voter does not have an ID on election day at the polls, he (she) can make out a provisional ballot and then must come to the County Courthouse with proper identification to validate their ballot.

This is considered to be the most important voting rights case before the Supreme Court since 2000’s infamous Bush v Gore decision.

The decision to uphold the state requirement for photo IDs for voters comes just days before the Indiana primary in the endless presidential sweepstakes.