You may need ID to vote (Ohio Legislature's solution to vote fraud)

[democraticinsurgent]

Legislators say ballot security needed; critics say elections will end in doubt

All Ohio voters likely will be required to show identification before they can cast a ballot next year. The requirement is one of the changes expected in a bill that could pass the Senate this month.

Voters could provide any number of documents, including a driver’s license, paycheck, utility bill or bank statement. Voters also could sign sworn statements declaring their identities or submit the last four digits of their Social Security numbers, but that would allow them to cast only provisional ballots, which are counted within 10 days after the election if deemed valid.

Critics say the ID requirements would discourage people from voting.

Kathy Johnston, advocacy director for the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio, said she doesn’t see the need, noting there is no evidence of voter fraud across Ohio.

http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2005/12/02/20051202-A1-00.html

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Unfortunately the Columbus Dispatch restricts its web news to subscribers, so I'll paraphrase the key points of the rest of the article:

- Provisional balloting will skyrocket, as anyone who forgets ID will be tossed into that pile, and we know what happened to those votes in 2004.

Worse, there are several provisions in the proposed law that are designed to keep Ohio Republican, including

- clarifying where a provisional ballot can be cast
- raising the price for requesting a recount and
- requiring counties to send an information card to each voter every two years. If cards are returned as undeliverable, the voter must cast a provisional ballot in the next election.

Those are already in the House version, which passed in May. In the Senate version, there are even more goodies:

• Maintaining when people declare their political affiliation, which is during a primary election.

• Removing a provision requiring counties that use electronic voting machines to conduct a recount of a random sampling within two months of a countywide general election. One senator said it’s an "undue burden on county boards of election with no greater certainty of the result."

• Reducing the number of signatures that county municipal judges need to get on the ballot to 50, consistent with county commissioners and state legislators. Current law requires 1,000 signatures in five big cities, including Columbus, and 250 for a number of other countywide judges.

• Giving the attorney general, in addition to local prosecutors, the power to file criminal charges if fraud is discovered during the signature-gathering process for ballot initiatives.

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This is BS of the highest order and must be given national attention now!