MALDEF PRESS RELEASE ON PHOTO VOTER ID IN INDIANA

MALDEF CONDEMNS U.S. SUPREME COURT DECISION THAT JEOPARDIZES VOTERS

APRIL 30, 2008 – On Monday, the United States Supreme Court failed American voters by upholding a state law in Indiana requiring voters to present photo identification at the polls on Election Day. The Court concluded that Indiana’s photo ID requirement, which provided for free identification cards and made exceptions for indigent voters and nursing home residents, did not burden voters. MALDEF had filed a “friend of the court” brief in the case, arguing that the Indiana law should be struck down as unconstitutional.

The 6-to-3 Supreme Court ruling was one of the most anticipated election-law cases since the Bush v. Gore 2000 decision. This decision will potentially disenfranchise thousands of voters in the upcoming Indiana Primary Election as well as on Election Day in November.

“Elderly and minority citizens will be hardest hit by the Court’s decision. MALDEF will continue the fight to protect the right to vote without unnecessary obstacles placed before citizens. Our challenge to Arizona’s Proposition 200 moves forward in the courts and we will there if Congress or state legislatures use this opinion to justify similar voter restriction laws around the nation,” stated MALDEF President and General Counsel John Trasviña.

“Indiana’s voter ID requirement excludes many eligible voters while sending the wrong message to lawmakers in other states; it is never fair to deny the ballot to a voter who is qualified, particularly when the state has no evidence of voter fraud to justify its onerous policy,” said Nina Perales, MALDEF Southwest Regional Counsel.