Joint Committee on Finance LIVE on WisEye at 2pm. They will vote on voter identification legislation. Watch on Charter 995 or wiseye.org.
Controversy and opposition
The Real ID Act has faced criticism from across the political spectrum and remains the subject of several ongoing controversies. Opponents of the Real ID Act include libertarian groups, in particular the Cato Institute; immigrant advocacy groups; human and civil rights organizations, including ACLU; privacy advocacy groups, including 511 campaign; good government and government accountability groups; labor groups such as AFL-CIO; People for the American Way; consumer and patient protection groups; some gun rights groups; many state lawmakers, state legislatures and governors; The Constitution Party and others.[22][23] Real ID is opposed by such groups as Gun Owners of America, by the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal as well as the Obama administration. Along with the Bush administration, the Real ID Act is strongly supported by the conservative Heritage Foundation and by many anti-illegal immigration advocates.[22]
Among the 2008 presidential candidates, according to a February 2008 CNet report at news.com, John McCain strongly supported the Real ID Act, Barack Obama and Ron Paul flatly opposed it, while Hillary Clinton called for the law to be reviewed.[24] In a September 2007 interview Mike Huckabee expressed opposition to the Real ID Act, calling the Real ID Act "a huge mistake".[25]
Section 202(c)(3) of the Real ID Act[19] requires the states to "verify, with the issuing agency, the issuance, validity, and completeness of each document" that is required to be presented by a driver's license applicant to prove their identity, birth date, legal status in the U.S., social security number and the address of their principal residence. The same section states that the only foreign document acceptable is a foreign passport.
The DHS final rule[12] regarding implementation of the Real ID Act driver's license provisions relaxes, and in some instances waives altogether, these verification requirements of the Real ID Act. Thus the DHS rule concedes that there is no practical mechanism to verify with the issuers the validity of documents proving the applicant's primary address (such as a mortgage statement or a utility bill) and leaves the implementation of this verification requirement to discretion of the states (page 5297 of the DHS final rule in the Federal Register).[12] However, the DHS rule, Section 37.11(c), mandates that the Real ID license applicants be required to present at least two documents documenting the address of their primary residence.
Assembly Republicans have tweaked a bill requiring voters to show identification at the polls to allow some college IDs, but Democrats are ripping the change as window dressing.
University of Wisconsin-Madison IDs in their current form would not be adequate to vote under the provisions of the bill. That’s because the bill requires college IDs to have current addresses and dates of birth on them.
Putting addresses on ID cards would create a major security concern because the IDs include magnetic strips that serve as keys to student housing, said Don Nelson, director of state relations for UW-Madison. Anyone who found a lost card would know where the student lives and have access to their residence.
Rep. Jeff Stone (R-Greendale), author of the bill, said he did not know how the cards were used.
Since January, legislators have proposed strict new voter ID policies in at least 37 states, including Florida, a key swing state in federal elections. Far more restrictive than bills introduced in the past, critics argue these policies are not only ineffective, but also make it harder for seniors, students and other vulnerable citizens to vote. A recent Brennan Center report finds these measures also have high implementation costs at a time when many states are trying to close budget gaps.http://www.brennancenter.org/content/resource/the_cost_of_voter_id_laws_what_the_courts_say/
