The Arkansas Republican Party plans to educate voters about a new law requiring people to provide photo identification to vote, and will help eligible voters obtain their photo identification regardless of political party, party Chairman Doyle Webb said Wednesday.
Two days after the Republican-controlled Legislature finished overriding Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe’s veto of the voter-ID legislation that’s now Act 595, Webb announced the GOP’s plans for what he called the Operation Vote Arkansas program. He declined to say how much will be spent on the program.
“Opponents of this [voter-ID] legislation falsely claim that some voters will be disenfranchised and that fewer people will vote as a result. This could not be further from the truth,” Webb said at a news conference at his party’s headquarters in Little Rock with GOP Secretary of State Mark Martin and Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, who sponsored the legislation.
“We believe that voter ID will result in even more Arkansans voting because it will restore confidence in our elections, and people will want to participate more knowing that their vote will count,” Webb said.
A spokesman for the state Democratic Party later accused Martin of violating a campaign pledge not to engage in partisan activities as the state’s chief election official. A spokesman for Martin replied that Operation Vote Arkansas is a nonpartisan effort.
Webb, an attorney and former state senator from Benton, said the Operation Vote Arkansas program would include a comprehensive education program to inform Arkansans about the requirements of the voter-ID law and help all eligible voters to obtain their proper identification to vote.
Once the secretary of state’s office and county clerks are ready to issue photo identifications, the state Republican Party will activate its volunteer organizations in the state’s 75 counties, Webb said. They will “help any voter who contacts us with a need to obtain a photo ID,” including providing free rides to the county clerk’s offices.
The GOP’s website will include a page featuring information about requirements of the voter-ID law, registering to vote, voting by absentee ballot, finding polling locations and getting rides to the polls on Election Day, Webb said.
Act 595 will become effective Jan. 1, 2014, but only if the state has the money to issue the voter-ID cards. The Bureau of Legislative Research estimated it will cost $300,000 to purchase the needed equipment.
Martin, a Republican from Prairie Grove, said he’s pretty sure that his office will have sufficient funding to make it happen.
“We are going to pay for it out of our budget,” added Martin spokesman Alex Reed.
Martin said he welcomes the state Republican Party’s Operation Vote Arkansas program.
“I don’t see this as a conflict for the party to participate in any kind of voter education. We certainly wouldn’t want to limit education to the sphere of government responsibility, whenever there is a whole host of organizations and interests that should be, as good citizens, responsible for doing voter education,” he said.
Webb said he is calling on others, including the Democratic and Green parties, to launch similar efforts.
A spokesman for the state Democratic Party, Candace Martin, who is not related to Mark Martin, said voter education and registration will continue to be a priority for her party. She also said it’s disturbing that Mark Martin violated his own campaign pledge to not engage in partisan activities.
“As the chief elections official for our state, Secretary Martin should not only be concerned with registering more Republicans to serve his own political purposes,” Candace Martin said.
Reed replied that Operation Arkansas Vote “is a nonpartisan effort to get all Arkansans ID cards.”
“To suggest that Secretary Martin is only concerned with registering more of one party or another is absolutely absurd. It is the job of an executive to execute the laws passed by the General Assembly,” he said.
Arkansas, Pages 12 on 04/05/2013