Friday, October 26, 2012

President Obama Required To Show Photo ID To Vote In Chicago

President Barack Obama and Democrats nationally have decried voter ID laws as nothing more than an attempt by Republicans to depress legitimate registered voters from casting a vote in elections. So there is a bit of irony in seeing a Chicago Board of Elections worker ask President Obama to present a photo ID in order to cast an early vote in the November election. President Obama dutifully responded by showing the election worker his Illinois driver's license. Illinois election law does not require voters who cast their votes at election precincts on election day to present a photo ID unless they are a newly-registered voter who mailed in their voter registration application or a majority of election judges at a polling place challenge a person's vote. As demonstrated here, Illinois law also requires voters who are casting an in-person vote at early voting to present a photo ID. I'm not sure what Illinois' rationale is in requiring a person to present a photo ID at early voting but not at the polling places on election day. It seems like a distinction without a difference.

1 comment:

Downtown Indy said...

Of even more interest is the fact he could have satisfactorily voted for free with an absentee ballot and saved the taxpayers millions by not travelling there in Air Force One.