Gov. Bob McDonnell neither confirmed nor denied whether he will sign either version of the voter ID bills passed by the House of Delegates and Senate, but did say he felt protecting the integrity of the voting process was important.
McDonnell said Tuesday that before he signed a bill requiring voters to present valid identifications at the polls or cast a provisional ballot he would vet it to make sure it was "legally sound" and would pass muster under the federal 1965 Voting Rights Act.
The Senate passed a voter ID bill Monday and the House passed one last week that would differ over how provisional ballots cast by voters without ID would be counted. The Senate measure would give the voter six days to present an id to the registrar or state board to have the provisional ballot counted. It also expands what can be used as identification including a utility bill, a government issued check, a paycheck or a student ID card from one of the state's four-year universities. Under the House proposal the provisional ballot would be counted the day after the election unless someone specifically objects to that specific ballot.
Opponents say voter ID laws suppress and dilute the vote among minority groups, the elderly, the poor and students. They also question whether the type of voter fraud supporters contend makes the measures needed actually exists.
Supporters say even though there may not be significant evidence of voter fraud, just the chance that it could happen means it needs to be protected against to insure the integrity of the vote.
The U.S. Justice Department must approve any changes to voting laws in Virginia under the Voting Rights Act, and in December shot down a voter ID law in South Carolina.
"I can't speculate on what Justice Department may do," McDonnell said. "Particularly this Justice Department that's got a series of challenges with there operations. What I will say is voter integrity is very important. Voter integrity is the essence of of Democracy. You're entitled to one person, one vote - not two or three. And not none.
So it is a delicate balance to make sure no one is effectively or actually deprived of the right to vote, but to make sure that every vote that is cast is actually cast by a legal voter. So conceptually I understand what we are trying to do is to make sure that every person who votes is actually the person who is registered in the poll book, and is actually the person who is who that they say that they are.
I have not examined the details of those bills. I know there's been some changes that have been made in the House and the Senate. But I want to make sure we have absolute integrity in our voting system. Before I comment on any of those bills or decide on any signature I'm going to have a full review done by the Attorney Generals Office, like I do on all bills - but particularly on ones where we might have conflict with federal Voting Rights Act or anything like that. I want to make sure they are legally sound before I make my final policy decisions."
In my 26yrs of living and voting heby the republican partyre in Va. I have never heard or seen a case of voter fraud here. This is a case of voter intimidation by the republican party and a turning back the clock to the days of Jim Crowe.
Posted by: Jim Mavis | Thursday, February 09, 2012 at 08:10 PM