Just Three Thousand Virginia Voters Request Free Photo IDs Before Election Day
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A free program that is apparently not taken advantage of. In South Carolina the DMV offered free rides on the weekends and less than one thousand requested assistance. The left has no problem mobilizing buses to the polls.
Via Watchdog
Tuesday will mark the first general election when Virginia’s controversial photo ID law will be in full swing.
But just about 3,000 voters have applied for a free photo ID from their local registrar so far.
Critics of the controversial 2013 law say it suppresses older voters and minorities, who may not have photo ID, although anyone who needs photo ID can get one for free by requesting it from a local registrar. Those who show up at the polls sans photo ID can still cast a provisional ballot that will count, as long as they show proper ID by the end of the week.
The state has estimated about 200,000 active voters out of nearly 5.3 million registered voters in the Old Dominion have no DMV identification, although other forms of ID like passports, student ID and employee ID are acceptable, too.
As of Monday, the Department of Elections reported 2,987 Virginians have applied for a free photo ID card. The average applicant age is 67, according to Rose Mansfield, executive assistant to the commissioner’s office at the Department of Elections. Another 900 are receiving temporary IDs that are good for 30 days.[...]
In Tennessee, Georgia and Indiana, which all had strict photo ID requirements, census data shows increased participation rates among black voters in 2012. In Tennessee, black voters turned out at greater rates than white voters.
Proponents of photo ID laws claim there’s still potential for fraud with Virginia’s law, as ID that’s been expired for up to one year still counts and the photo ID requirement doesn’t apply to absentee ballots.