McDonnell recommends changes to voter ID law, vetoes seven bills
Gov. Bob McDonnell
Gov. Bob McDonnell has recommended amendments to legislation requiring voters to show identification at the polls, inserting changes that would give local election officials more discretion to approve provisional ballots cast by citizens who lack identification documents.
The General Assembly last month passed legislation (HB 9 and SB 1) that would require voters to present valid identification in order to cast a regular ballot.
The legislation, coming in a presidential election year, stirred heated debate during the General Assembly session. Black political and civic leaders have likened the measure to poll taxes, literacy tests and other voter suppression tactics that Virginia employed during the Jim Crow era. Democrats argued that the bill also could affect the voting rights of seniors and other voters who may be less likely to have the required identification. The bill cleared the evenly divided Senate thanks to Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling’s tie-breaking vote.
Individuals who lack proper identification would be allowed to cast provisional ballots, but lawmakers decided that those ballots would be counted only if individuals could produce proper identification before votes are canvassed.
Under McDonnell’s proposed change, local electoral boards or general registrars can count the provisions ballots if they determine that the signature on the ballot matches the signature in the individual’s voter file. The governor’s amendment mirrors a provision in the original version of a bill passed by the House of Delegates. But the provision was dropped when in negotiations with the Senate, which did not include the provision in its version of the bill.
McDonnell’s amendments were filed late Monday, shortly before his midnight deadline to act on bills passed during the legislative session that ended March 10. The General Assembly will convene April 18 to act on bills McDonnell vetoed and amended
McDonnell vetoed seven bills, including a measure (SB 471) that would require the state board of education to develop regulations for physical education programs in public schools. McDonnell amended a similar bill (HB 1092) which will require the state to come up with guidelines for physical education programs in elementary and middle schools.
The governor signed legislation (SB 131) awarding tax credits to individuals and corporations that contribute to private school scholarships. The legislation originally was designed to help poor students, but the final version of the bill extends scholarship eligibility to children from families with incomes up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level. The state would cap the tax credit program at $25 million annually when it takes effect in 2014. McDonnell made minor changes to a companion bill (HB 321).
Most Democrats opposed the legislation, arguing that the tax expenditure will drain money from the state’s general fund, which supports public education. It took Bolling’s tie-breaking vote to get the measure through the Senate.
– Michael Sluss
April 10, 2012 - 11:21 AM
Someone please explain to me why you should not have to present valid ID in order to vote. You have to show ID to register to vote don’t you?
@1
So why do you need to show it again every time you vote? Voter card is enough.
“It’s like deja vu, all over again”.
Here are the ID requirements to register to vote in Virginia:
http://www.sbe.virginia.gov/cms/documents/VoterRegistration/sbe_voter_app_DOJ-Printed.pdf
Here is some info on who would be disenfranchised and why:
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/04/04/458149/87-year-old-voter-disenfranchised-by-voter-id-despite-court-decision-striking-it-down/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-daily-nebraskan/problems-with-voter-id-requirements_b_1391224.html
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20120325/OPINION/203250316/Voter-ID-laws-will-disenfranchise-voters
http://crooksandliars.com/karoli/many-5-million-voters-disenfranchised-voter
These are the documents Virginia will require to vote in 2012:
http://www.sbe.virginia.gov/cms/documents/FAQ_2008_Presidential_Primaries.pdf
So far, Virginia still realizes that not everyone eligible to vote has a photo ID from the DMV, can meet all of the stricter requirements to get one, has easy access to a DMV and has the money to pay for the ID and have it renewed.
The attempts to disenfranchise voters who do not have a photo ID issued by the DMV (or worse a valid driver’s license) will eliminate or greatly inconvenience far more people than any fraud has EVER been able to even accuse much less prove. Pro active and well trained registrars are a much better way to combat the minimum voter fraud that MIGHT be in the system and it should not affect eligible voters.
Sandi you super Lib , you are going to source the huffington post ???? geeze why dont you just make up your own facts I would believe you more than them…. People like me want people to show ID bc it shows that people are who they say they are … Not people voting over and over again posing as dead people like some states has proved. Why is this is hard ? b/c poor people cant get an id ? or illegals cant get id’s ? young poeple or old people ?? You are ridiculous …. I think you should have a high school degree and be 21 before you can vote but that would make to much sense wouldnt it… having some high school drop out and some 18 kid smoking weed in his dorm room being fed socialist ideas in class deciding how much money is taken away from me for taxes or other issues …..huffington post geeze , you know thats a super progressive , super liberal opinion blog dont you ??? Move to california you socialist and see why they cant pay their debt and obama had to bail them out . what is it now 60 .. 70 billion ?? Virginia owes nothing …..crazy how that works and all the millionaires are moving to texas …hmmmmm wonder why ….. SOCIALISM
vt bowl record
There has been less than one one thousandth of one percent of voter id fraud confirmed or proven anywhere in the United States. There has been much more fraud where registrars and plotiical operatives have falsified or “lost” or failed to properly record or count ballots. And substantially more people havebeen and will be denied their legitimate right to vote under the Republican votern suppression laws. This is nothing but a blatant attempt on their part to disfranchise minority groups, the elderley and the very young, all of whom vote in large numbers for democrats.
If they want to tackle a legitimate issue of fraud, they should go after welfare fraud. That is a more crippling problem.
“why don’t you make up your own facts”
because she is not you, bowl record or FOX.
belle
Welfare fraud is also an ogerblown accusation as is the litany that people on welfare or food stamps are drug users. States which have started requirung drug testing for welfare recipients have discovered that the percenrage of drug abuse among welfare users is actually significantly less than in the general population and the testing program is actually costig more money than the amount saced by disqwualifying people from welfare.
The REAL area of fraud is in medicare and medicaid where providers are overbilling and recommending unneeded and expensive tests in order to pad their incomes. The Governor of Fla. has been involved in this and there is a major investigation going on in Texas which is uncovering millions and millions in fraudulent practices.
@dave
I agree with you on the Medicare/Medicaid issue. I was kidding in reference to my welfare fraud comment b/c it IS on a small scale, just as voter “fraud” is. Both of them would cost more to prove fraudulent behavior is occurring. That’s not to say it doesn’t occur on both ends, b/c it does. Just not as MASSIVE as some make it out to be. There is waste and fraud on both sides. My attempt at sarcasm failed!
belle
Gotcha! I just didn’t read carefully enough between the lines!
bowl record, you apparently missed the report in the Wall Street Journal this month announcng the Pulitzer Prize Winner in the National Reporting Category was the HUFFINGTON POST!