Voter ID bill introduced in Nevada Senate
CARSON CITY — Voters would be required to show photo identification before casting a ballot under a bill introduced Tuesday in the Nevada Senate.
Under Senate Bill 169, sponsored by Sen. James Settelmeyer, R-Minden, and eight other Republican lawmakers, proof of identity would include a document or identity card issued by the state, federal government or recognized Indian tribe that contains a “recognizable photograph.”
It also would require the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue a voter identification card free of charge to anyone who lacks other proof.
Settelmeyer said requiring voter ID is “something my constituencies have been clamoring about for a long time.”
In the rural counties he represents, where everyone seems to know almost everyone else, Settelmeyer said his constituents “get upset” when a poll worker won’t look at their ID.
“They want to show their ID,” he said. “The concept is to help strengthen the integrity of elections.”
Democrats and other groups oppose the bill as obstructionist and unnecessary.
“We think it’s a discriminatory solution in search of a nonexistent problem,” said Tod Story, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada.
To be valid, identification could not have an expiration date beyond four years before an election.
The bill was referred to the Senate Finance Committee because of its undermined cost of providing voter identification cards to those who lack other acceptable forms for photo ID.
There’s also the expense of educating voters on the requirement, Story said, adding Indiana, on which the Nevada bill is modeled, spent millions of dollars on such efforts.
Nevada is one of 24 states that do not require documents at polling places to cast a ballot. If SB169 is enacted, the state would join seven others with strict photo ID requirements, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Under existing state law, voters must sign their names at their polling places. The signature is compared with the signature on the voter’s original application to vote or another form of identification, such as a driver’s license, military identification or some other government-issued ID. If the signatures don’t appear to match, voters can be asked to show ID. If they have none, they can fill out a provisional ballot.
“Why would we want to make voting more difficult for people?” said Bob Fulkerson, executive director of Progressive Leadership of Nevada. “We are already suffering from low participation in democracy.”
Voter ID is a priority for Republicans, who gained control of both houses of the Nevada Legislature after the November election.
A bill sponsored in 2013 by then Democratic Secretary of State Ross Miller sought to update Nevada’s poll books by making them digital with a photo included. The plan had an estimated price tag of $800,000 to supply lap top computers for all polling locations. The measure failed.
Republican Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske, a former state senator elected to succeed Miller in November, has said she supports photo ID to vote.
Contact Sandra Chereb at schereb@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901. Find her on Twitter: @SandraChereb
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