Safeguard, or is it a hindrance? Local hearing held on proposed Voter ID bill

By Phyllis Sides

Tuesday, March 22, 2005 2:07 AM CST

MOUNT PLEASANT - Speaking before a hearing on the controversial Voter ID bill Monday afternoon, state Rep. John Lehman, D-Racine, called the hearing a traveling Republican road show.

The Labor and Election Process Reform Committee held a hearing on the bill Monday evening at Case High School.

"This is another step that many people believe is a partisan effort to suppress voter turnout. The Democrats will vote against it and the Republicans will vote for it and the governor will veto it," Lehman said.

Lehman said there are other solutions to cheating, but the bill misses the point. He proposed increasing the penalty for falsely vouching for someone at the polls.

The bill would require photo identification from the vast majority of citizens wanting to vote. According to the Wisconsin Voting Rights Coalition, this requirement would severely restrict the ability to vote for many elderly, student and low-income Wisconsin citizens. The coalition also says the bill's price tag - more than $1 million - is also a big concern, given the state's budget.

The Coalition, which was formed to fight for more organized, more participatory elections, has said the bill would disenfranchise nearly 120,000 Wisconsin

citizens.

Racine resident Marilyn Nemeth, 72, said she came to the hearing to speak for the elderly and for all the people who don't drive. Nemeth, who works for the Alliance of Retired Americans, said if the legislation's supporters were serious about reform they would

support more training for poll workers and increase the number of poll workers.

Burlington resident Bob Geason 58, said he supports the bill because presenting an ID would allow the poll workers to streamline the process and might help prevent voter fraud. Geason also said showing identification at the polls should not be a problem because "virtually everybody has an ID."

Geason said he had attended several hearings on the bill and he came Monday to hear what people had to say.

State Rep. Bob Turner, D-Racine, says a photo ID is not definitive proof a person is a qualified voter. It doesn't identify a person as a felon or a citizen, and may not reflect a voters current address. Wisconsin law does not require the address appearing on a valid drivers license to be a person's current address, Turner said.

State Sen. Spencer Coggs, D-Milwaukee, said the legislation will do more harm than good.

"We don't have real election reform. Voter ID will disenfranchise the poor and the homeless. In Milwaukee, alone, there are easily 25,000 low-income people who move regularly," Coggs said. "The bill also would disenfranchise people moving to Wisconsin from other states."

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