Missouri Republican legislators ponder next step with voter ID

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The state spent more than $680,000 implementing a photo ID requirement for voters that the Missouri Supreme Court overwhelmingly threw out, and now Republican lawmakers are pondering how to pass one that courts will allow.

The state Department of Revenue and the secretary of state's office together spent about $680,400 on their duties under the law, according to figures provided at the request of The Associated Press.

The legislature muscled the measure through in the spring despite fierce Democratic opposition. Opponents challenged the measure as unconstitutional, and the state's highest court this week agreed in a 6-1 ruling.

The court said part of the problem was the cost of documents needed to obtain a government-issued photo identification card.

While the law made the ID cards free, a separate state law requires people to meet several criteria, including showing they're lawfully in the country, to obtain the identification card. Most people meet the lawful presence requirement with a birth certificate or passport, both documents that cost money.

So lawmakers are looking at a mechanism to cover those costs, though they say it's too early to know how it would work. The legislature returns in January.

"I'm confident that we'll take another stab at it early next session and do it again," said Rep. Bryan Stevenson, R-Webb City, who handled the measure in the House this year. "We'll have to come up with some way to reimburse them for any and all costs of getting documentation they should have to get anyway."

Stevenson said options could be creating a tax deduction or allowing people to reimbursed by having them submit their costs to the Department of Revenue with their ID application.

State officials are still tallying up their costs from a law that's no longer valid.

The Revenue Department's work included sending vans out to nursing homes and other centers around the state to help the elderly and disabled obtain ID cards and reimbursing local license offices for the costs of people seeking free photo IDs. The department's costs so far amounted to $580,404, but final bills aren't expected until early November.

Most of the expense came from portable equipment designed to collect personal information, take a photo and capture an electronic signature on site to transmit to the agency, which then mailed out the card.

In all, the agency said it issued more than 2,000 state identification cards for voting through local offices and visits.

The secretary of state's office was responsible for informing the public about the new ID requirement. The office said it spent about $100,000, largely on ad production and placement, a brochure, a Web site and a toll-free number.

Current law requires voters to present some identification, but many items count, including a driver's license, voter identification card from local election authorities or utility bill, among other things.

Among the items the secretary of state's office is providing to local polling sites is information stating a photo ID is not required, so legitimate voters won't be wrongly turned away.

Lawmakers are considering pursuing a constitutional amendment to enact the ID requirement.

"Merely trying to address the cost issue is only part of the problem," said attorney Don Downing, who challenged the law on behalf of some voters. "I don't want to say the Missouri Legislature has no power to address voter impersonation fraud. They've already done that in a way that I believe is constitutional, and that way is working."

The Supreme Court said the photo ID law violates a constitutional provision against any authority interfering with voting and another provision stating that all residents properly registered are qualified to vote.

"We're going to do what we've got to do to ensure that voter integrity is there," Scott said. "If it takes a change in constitution, that's certainly one option."

Another possibility could be requiring a photo ID when people register to vote, rather than at the polling place. But then lawmakers would have to determine how to handle people who are already registered to vote.

Republicans in Congress also proposed a photo ID requirement, which if passed could make the Missouri debate moot.

Supporters have argued the requirement is needed to prevent fraud and increase voters' confidence in elections. Opponents say fears of voters impersonating someone else are overblown and that most election problems in Missouri stem from voter registration or absentee ballot fraud.

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On the Net:

Supreme Court: http://www.courts.mo.gov/page.asp?id27

Legislature: http://www.moga.mo.gov