The following post originally appeared at CampusProgress.org and Fair Elections Legal Network.
The Good News
North Carolina: Governor Bev Perdue (D) vetoed North Carolina’s strict photo ID bill last Thursday. Because several House Democrats would have to join Republicans to reach the vote necessary to overturn a veto, we’re hoping photo ID is finally off the table in North Carolina…for this year, anyway.
Maine: As expected,Governor Paul LePage (R) signed Maine’s bill to end Election Day registration into law last Tuesday. However, we’ve put Maine in the “good news” column this week because Maine groups have launched an effort to repeal the state’s voter ID law by pursuing a citizen’s veto. The first step: collecting 57,277 signatures by August 8.
[Editor's note: Mainers, sign up to be part of the People's Veto campaign here.]
Florida: Concerned groups are weighing in with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) regarding Florida’s omnibus voter suppression bill. Changes to Florida’s elections laws must receive approval from the DOJ or the D.C. federal district court, due to a history of discrimination in five of Florida’s 67 counties. Florida submitted its request for preclearance to the DOJ on June 9, and recently comment letters were submitted by Project Vote, the ACLU Voting Rights Project, and the Florida ACLU (jointly) and the NAACP, LDF, and Florida Conference of Black State Legislators (jointly). The groups ask the DOJ to deny preclearance because of the bill’s discriminatory effect on minority voters. FELN will submit a comment letter this week.
New Hampshire: Governor John Lynch (D) has until midnight tonight to decide whether to veto a photo ID bill. The bill would require a voter who doesn’t present a government-issued photo ID at the polls to return with acceptable ID by noon on the Friday after an election in order for the vote to count. Though a veto is expected, we can’t count our chickens before they’re hatched. The legislature will likely attempt to override the veto and it remains to be seen whether the Governor has the votes in the Senate to sustain it. In its legislative bulletin on Friday, the New Hampshire Municipal Association reiterated the problematic nature of the bill and expressed its hope that a veto and the votes to sustain it are forthcoming.
The Bad News
Ohio: Ohio’s Senate pulled out all the stops last week. After a series of confusing committee hearings involving substitute bills and a game of green light/red light on the vehicle for photo ID, the Senate passed an omnibus voter suppression bill Thursday night and is poised to pass photo ID early this week. The omnibus bill, HB 194, is largely similar to the version passed by the House last month and, among other things, shortens the early in-person voting period from 35 to 17 days and eliminates early voting on Sundays, Saturday afternoons, and the Monday before Election Day. The bill now goes back to the House for concurrence and then on to Governor John Kasich (R) for signature. Separately, though a vote on a photo ID bill was delayed last week to address drafting concerns, it is expected to come to a vote as early as tomorrow. On Friday afternoon, Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted issued a strong public statement opposing the strict photo ID proposal, indicating that it “does little to protect against fraud and excludes legally registered voters.”
Pennsylvania: After weeks of delay (causing us to optimistically, if tentatively, place PA in the “good news” column while we waited), the House passed a photo ID bill on Thursday. The bill now goes to the Senate, which is expected to take it up in the fall. Stay tuned!
Rhode Island: Will Rhode Island be the first Democratic-majority state to pass a photo ID bill? We’ll know by the end of the week, when the legislature adjourns for the year. The bill has not yet been scheduled for a House committee vote, but if we’ve learned anything this year, it’s that we shouldn’t breathe easy where voter suppression’s concerned – anything can happen at the last minute.
Megan Donovan is a staff attorney with the Fair Elections Legal Network. Tobin is a Network Associate at Campus Progress.
