Courts mixed on voter ID -- GOPUSA

Courts mixed on voter ID
By UPI Staff
United Press International
January 25, 2007

WASHINGTON (UPI) -- U.S. courts are giving mixed reviews to new voter identification laws that keep some people from the polls.

USA Today says courts in Georgia and Missouri have rejected laws that required voters to show photo ID each time they cast ballots. In Indiana, however, a federal appeals court upheld a state photo ID law.

The Georgia law required people to show one of six government-issued forms of photo identification. Previously, state polling places had accepted non-photo ID as proof of residency.

Missouri's requirement that registered voters show a state or federal photo ID to cast a ballot was struck down by judges who said it was "an illegal hurdle for poor, elderly and disabled residents," the newspaper said.

Earlier this month in Indiana, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit rejected claims by state Democrats that the law violates voting rights.

Judge Richard Posner upheld the law but said "most people who don't have photo ID are low on the economic ladder and ... are more likely to vote for Democratic than Republican candidates."