Indiana court strikes down tough voter ID law

INDIANAPOLIS — The state Court of Appeals on Thursday struck down an Indiana law requiring government-issued photo identification for voters, overturning on state constitutional grounds a strict law previously upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Considered one of the nation’s toughest voter identification laws, it requires that a state or federal photo ID card be presented at the ballot box. Critics have said it disenfranchises some poor, older and minority voters. Supporters contend it is needed to prevent voter fraud at the polls, which critics say is rare.

Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels called Thursday’s 3-0 ruling “an act of judicial arrogance.”

“It would be one thing if this thing had not already been litigated from the bottom up through the federal system, and multiple court rulings — including the Supreme Court of the United States — hadn’t already spoken,” Daniels said.

The Indiana Democratic Party previously challenged the law in federal court, saying it violated the U.S. Constitution. But the nation’s highest court upheld 6-3 in April 2008.

The League of Women Voters then challenged the law in state courts, arguing it violated the Indiana Constitution by imposing a requirement on some, but not all, voters.

A Marion County judge dismissed the suit in December, but the League appealed, and this time a panel of judges ruled in its favor. In a 29-page ruling, Judge Patricia A. Riley wrote that the trial court must declare the law void because it regulates voters in a way that is not “uniform and impartial.”

The judges held that it was irrational to require those who vote in person to verify their identities when those who vote by mail are not required to do so even though absentee voting is more susceptible to fraud. The panel also said the law arbitrarily gives preferential treatment to people who vote in nursing homes where they live because they aren’t required to show a photo ID even though other elderly people who vote elsewhere must.

While the nursing home discrepancy could be remedied easily by requiring those residents to present ID, the treatment favoring absentee voters might require legislation to fix, the judges said.

“We are grateful that the Indiana Court of Appeals has, at least for the time being, put a stop to legislative efforts to single out and burden a class of voters — those who vote in-person — without reasonable or justifiable cause and without any evidence that these burdens were necessary,” said Erin Kelley, president of the Indianapolis League of Woman Voters.

Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller said he would appeal.

“The state’s long-held view is that the Voter ID law is constitutional, and we will vigorously defend the statute in arguing that position before the Indiana Supreme Court,” he said.

It was not immediately clear what effect the ruling might have on the 2010 elections.

“It would be helpful if the (state) Supreme Court took up the case quickly so election officials have a clear idea what the rules are well before the election takes place,” said Mike Pitts, a professor at the Indiana University School of Law in Indianapolis who specializes in election law.

The Indiana Supreme Court has the ultimate authority because the case deals with a state, not federal, constitutional issue.

The law was passed in 2005 by a Republican-controlled Legislature and overturned Thursday by three judges appointed by Democratic governors. Democrats and civil rights groups had opposed the voter ID law as unconstitutional and called it a thinly veiled effort to discourage groups of voters who tend to prefer Democrats.

When Daniels, a Republican, was asked at a news conference if the ruling was partisan, he said: “I think it’s transparently so, but that’s not what is really at issue. It’s just bad law.”

House Speaker Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, praised the ruling.

“This voter ID disenfranchised hundreds if not thousands of voters,” he said. “You’re supposed to treat people equally. We felt the whole law was trying to cut down voters.”

House Minority Leader Brian Bosma of Indianapolis, who pushed for the law when he was House speaker in 2005 and both chambers were controlled by Republicans, called the law a model of election reform around the country.

“In today’s culture, when we routinely show identification to board a plane, cash a check or even rent a video, it is critical that we take reasonable measures to protect the founding principle of one person, one vote,” he said.