Voter ID law found constitutional

JEFFERSON CITY - State legislators from both parties said Monday that the federal Supreme Court's decision to uphold a voter photo identification law will not affect Missouri.

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld in a 6-3 vote an Indiana statute requiring voters to present a photo ID, saying such a requirement "surely does not qualify as a substantial burden on the right to vote, or even represent a significant increase over the usual burdens of voting."

But two years ago, the Missouri Supreme Court struck down by a 6-1 vote a similar law. The court ruled that requiring voters to present photo IDs was unconstitutional according to the Missouri Constitution.

House Democratic Leader Paul LeVota said each case dealt with separate laws on different levels of government and therefore cannot affect each other.

"The state Constitution can have its own requirements of the state," LeVota, D-Jackson County, said. "This isn't a similar situation."

Secretary of State Robin Carnahan, who oversees the state's elections, issued a press release saying the U.S. Supreme Court's decision will have little impact on Missouri. Carnahan's office refused to comment further.

Sen. Delbert Scott, R-Lowry City, sponsored the voter ID bill two years ago that was ultimately rejected by the state's highest court. He said supports the federal court's decision to uphold the Indiana voter ID law.

"The decision validates that the road we went down two years ago was the right road and the constitutionally legitimate road," Scott said.

Scott still supports the idea of allowing states to require voters to present photo IDs, saying the decision put the possibility of another voter identification bill "back on the table."

"It's the right thing to do," he said. "If you've got to use (a photo ID) to rent a video, you should use it to vote."

With less than three weeks left in this legislative session, Scott conceded that it's too late to bring the issue back to Missouri lawmakers.

LeVota said attempts to bring the issue up during the next session will have a difficult time getting around the state Constitution.

"My point is they better not violate the Missouri Constitution," he said. "I don't understand why anyone would want this bill to add more qualifications or hurdles to vote."

In 2006, the state Supreme Court found that almost 240,000 Missourians, many of them registered to vote, lack a proper government-issued photo ID, such as a driver's license or passport. The court wrote that obtaining such identification "creates a heavy burden on the fundamental right to vote."

Democrats have charged a photo ID requirement would disenfranchise legitimate voters.

But Scott said those who think that people would be left out of the voting process are wrong.

"That's an absolutely made-up reason to scare people into thinking they might lose the right to vote," he said.

John Fougere, spokesman for Attorney General Jay Nixon, said his office had no comment.