Secretary of State Worries About Voter Confusion

Missouri’s top state elections official says the state supreme court has done the right thing in throwing out the voter photo-ID law…But she is not against improving voter identification. Secretary of State Robin Carnahan says it just has to be done in a way that is constituational and does not impede access to the ballot box. Carnahan gave no support to the law passed by the legislature this year… She realizes all of the court action…and decisions might have left many citizens puzzled about what they’ll need to vote. She says voters can still use the things they’ve used in the past to prove they are who they say they are–including the regular county-issued registration cards, drivers licenses, and utility bills. Carnahan would not rule out supporting a new voter identification law as long as it does not impede access to the ballot box—which the court says this year’s law would have done. She says Missouri alreayd has some of the strictestI-D requirements in the country…but if there is to be a new system, everybody eligible to have one of the cards should have time to get it.