Top Mo. Democrats denounce voter ID measure

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Some of Missouri's top Democrats are calling upon their colleagues to throw up a blockade in the state Senate against a Republican drive to enact a voter photo identification requirement.

Majority party Republicans plan to make the photo ID measure one of their priorities in the final week of the 2008 legislative session, which ends Friday.

A meeting is planned Monday among a select group of three Democratic and three Republican senators to determine whether there is a middle ground on the volatile and often partisan issue.

Senate Minority Leader Maida Coleman, D-St. Louis, said Saturday that her gut reaction is that consensus will be difficult. Some top Democrats at their state convention Saturday clearly expressed no desire for compromise.

U.S. Rep. William Lacy Clay, a former state senator, derided the Republican photo ID proposal as a "shameful new push" intended "to suppress turnout" among voters.

"I hope that every Democratic member of the Missouri Senate will stand up next week and stop this assault on our voting rights," Clay told the more than 700 delegates gathered at the convention.

When Senate Democrats refused to stand down against a photo ID bill in 2006, Republican senators employed a seldom-used motion to shut off debate and pass the bill. The House followed suit and Republican Gov. Matt Blunt signed it into law.

That measure required voters to show a valid government-issued photo ID, such as a driver's license or passport. Those lacking photo identification could get a free one from the state.

But the Missouri Supreme Court struck down the photo ID requirement as an unconstitutional burden on voting rights. It noted the IDs were not truly free, because there was a cost for the birth certificates or other underlying documents that some people might need to obtain the government-issued identification.

The renewed Republican interest comes after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a similar Indiana photo ID law about two weeks ago.

This time, Missouri Republicans are proposing a constitutional amendment for the November ballot that would authorize a law requiring a government-issued photo ID to vote. Republican lawmakers also plan to push a separate bill next week that automatically would enact such a requirement for the 2010 elections if voters approve the constitutional amendment.

The Missouri State Democratic Committee distributed fliers at Saturday's convention showing a black-and-white picture of nuns with the question: "Who would say no to a group of nuns?"

Last week, about a dozen Roman Catholic nuns were turned away from an Indiana polling place during its presidential primary because they didn't have government-issued photo identifications.

Although the Missouri Supreme Court noted there are no known instances of people trying to impersonate others at the ballot booth, Republicans insist that a perception of voter fraud exists and a photo ID requirement would reassure people that Missouri's elections are secure.

Secretary of State Robin Carnahan, a Democrat, has consistently opposed the Republican photo ID efforts.

On Saturday, she called the renewed Republican effort "partisan gamesmanship." The crowd of Democrats gave a loud "boo" as she described the photo ID proposal.