The Arkansas House voted Monday to require voters to show photo identification before casting a ballot, rejecting concerns raised by critics that the law would keep some poor or elderly people from the polls.
By a 53-36 vote, lawmakers approved the bill, which would allow a voter without an identification card to cast a provisional ballot. That person would have to present an ID to election officials later for the vote to be counted.
Rep. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, said his proposal would help prevent voter fraud and compared it to other laws requiring people to show a photo ID before buying cold medicine or selling scrap metal.
"The reality in most neighborhoods is anyone can walk off the streets, sign the voter registration using a name on the roll and cast a ballot," King said.
Staff at Arkansas voting precincts presently can ask for photo identification, but the voter isn't obligated to provide it.
Voters who do not drive or whose licenses have lapsed would be able to have a voter ID made by their county clerk at no charge. If the bill passes, it would be up to the secretary of state's office to supply county clerks with cameras and other equipment to produce the voter identification cards, King said.
If signed into law, the earliest the proposal would take effect is Jan. 1, 2013, but only if money is available for the state to issue voter ID cards.
Rep. Darrin Williams said he opposed the proposal because it would have prevented his elderly adoptive mother from being able to vote. Williams said his mother didn't drive and didn't have a government-issued ID when she died in 2007.
"It was a right that she totally understood and took very, very seriously. ... She did so because she knew people suffered, bled and died for that right and she would not want to do anything to abridge that right," Williams, D-Little Rock, said.
King's proposal now heads to the Senate for a vote.
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