2 Nevada voter ID measures move with no recommendations
CARSON CITY — Two voter ID measures, with one amended in its entirety to encompass a proposal from the 2013 session that would have created electronic poll books with voter photos, moved out of the Assembly Legislative Operations and Elections Committee on Thursday without a recommendation.
Both Assembly Bill 253 by Assemblyman Lynn Stewart, R-Henderson, and Assembly Bill 266 by Assemblywoman Jill Dickman, R-Sparks, will be re-referred to the Assembly Ways and Means Committee because of the fiscal notes attached to the measures.
Both measures as originally written would have required voters to show a photo identification to cast a ballot. Dickman’s measure remains unchanged and has a $300,000 fiscal note because of a requirement for the Department of Motor Vehicles to provide free voter ID cards to those who need one.
But Stewart amended his bill to mirror a proposal from former Secretary of State Ross Miller in the 2013 session to set up the electronic poll books with photos provided by the DMV. That measure, Senate Bill 63, did not pass. It had a fiscal note of $2.5 million just in Clark County alone.
The re-referral keeps both bills alive but the funding requirements could potentially doom the measures. The bills, along with hundreds of others, must pass out of the committee of origin or be referred to a money committee by April 10 or they will die.
The measures were heard last month and generated a lot of testimony on both sides of the issue.
Stewart said at the March hearing that he has to show his driver’s license to get on an airplane, to withdraw cash at the bank or to make a purchase with a credit card, and the same requirement should be imposed to vote.
But several lawmakers on the committee expressed concerns that any identification requirement would stand in the way of some individuals having the opportunity to cast a ballot.
“We’re talking of putting a major obstacle in front of a fundamental right,” said Assemblyman Elliot Anderson, D-Las Vegas.
Contact Sean Whaley at swhaley@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3900. Find him on Twitter: @seanw801.
