Legislation from House Majority Leader Mike Moyle, R-Star, to require voters to show a photo I.D. in order to vote has cleared the House on a 64-6 vote, after a vigorous debate, and now moves to the Senate. Moyle said, “The right to vote in this country is a sacred right. … We want to make sure that when you vote, that you are who you say you are.” Opponents said Idaho has no problem with fraudulent voting now, and Rep. Donna Boe, D-Pocatello, spoke out against the bill. “It seems to me that one of the problems that we have with our elections is not necessarily people voting who are someone other than who they say they are, but not enough qualified people coming to the polls to vote,” she said. “To me this legislation would present one more barrier to voters who choose to vote or who are thinking about going to the polls to vote.” Rep. Dell Raybould, R-Rexburg, told the House, “There is rumors, rampant rumors about fraudulent voting. … I’m in favor of this bill if it does nothing else than put a halt to a lot of these rumors about fraudulent voting.”
Moyle said there’s no way to know if fraudulent voting is going on, because voters aren’t required to show photo ID’s. Under his bill, HB 496, those who don’t have photo I.D. can sign an affidavit instead.
Betsy Z. Russell covers Idaho news from The Spokesman-Review's bureau in Boise.
Named best state-based political blog in Idaho for 2013 by The Fix
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