Bid to require voter IDs in Arkansas moves on to full House

Rep. Warwick Sabin is shown in this file photo.
Rep. Warwick Sabin is shown in this file photo.

The House committee given the task of whittling down constitutional amendment proposals voted Wednesday to refer a voter-identification measure to the full chamber for consideration.






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The House State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee approved House Joint Resolution 1016 with little dissent after familiar discussions about whether fraud is taking place during elections and whether requiring identification would prevent people from voting. If the House and Senate agree on the measure, the proposal would be referred to voters in the 2018 general election.

The committee took no action on other proposals.

The resolution's sponsor, Rep. Robin Lundstrum, R-Elm Springs, told lawmakers that the proposed amendment would stop instances of fraud in which a person impersonates a voter.

"The voters need to know that when their vote is cast, it counts," she said. "This amendment will assure the voters that we are doing everything from the point where that voter comes in to vote to the time they walk out their door, their vote will count."

Rep. Warwick Sabin, D-Little Rock, asked if there's data that show that voter impersonation is a problem.

"Can I give you specific examples in Arkansas? Not off the top of my head," Lundstrum said.

She told lawmakers she does have a list of examples but didn't have it with her. Asked by reporters for a copy of the list -- or examples from it -- she said she would see what she could do.

Rep. Bob Ballinger, R-Hindsville, later said a woman had contacted him saying that when she showed up to vote, she found that somebody had voted in her place. If it could happen to one, it could happen to many, he said.

Sabin told lawmakers, "We actually do have examples of people who've been disenfranchised as a result of voter ID being enacted previously."

Lawmakers approved a voter-identification law in 2013 that was eventually struck down by the Arkansas Supreme Court because it did not meet a required threshold of two-thirds of votes for it in both chambers of the Legislature.

Holly Dickson, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas, has said she identified 1,064 Arkansans who had to file provisional ballots during the May 2014 primary because they lacked an appropriate identification.

A bill -- in addition to the amendment -- was filed to resurrect many of the requirements in the law that was struck down.

Rep. Mark Lowery, R-Maumelle, who is sponsoring House Bill 1047, says it is complementary to the amendment. It passed in the House 74-21; the Senate has not yet voted on the bill.

Supporters of the constitutional amendment say it is necessary because high court justices also questioned whether the 2013 law struck down by the court amounted to an unconstitutional qualification to vote. According to Article 3, Section 1 of the Arkansas Constitution, in order to vote, Arkansans need only be age 18 or older, U.S. citizens, Arkansas residents and properly registered.

There's another difference between HB1047 and the proposed amendment: The bill would allow a voter without identification to sign an affidavit and still vote.

That would mean that Arkansas would remain among the 34 states that have laws requesting or requiring voters to show some form of identification at the polls, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The conference describes Arkansas' law as not requiring a photo and not strict.

The proposed amendment contains no such provision for an affidavit. Seven states have "strict" photo-identification laws that require voters lacking valid identification to take additional steps after Election Day for their votes to be counted, according to the conference.

Lundstrum said she would support lawmakers adding an affidavit provision if voters approve the amendment, but she said she would like the provision to be removed as voters become more familiar with the process.

"If we put that into the amendment and it goes into the constitution -- there's no flexibility," she said. "We need to do everything perfectly. I think Lowery's bill is excellent, but we don't know how that's going to be tinkered with or what's going to happen with that."

The committee did not take action on competing constitutional amendments. Those are:

• House Joint Resolution 1003 by House Speaker Jeremy Gillam, R-Judsonia, that would change the requirement for voter approval of constitutional amendments from a majority of voters to 60 percent of voters. Ballinger said HJR1003 was a leading candidate for a joint House and Senate proposal.

• House Joint Resolution 1011 by Rep. Trevor Drown, R-Dover, would allow the Legislature to "enact laws transferring the powers vested in an institution of higher learning" and "impacting an institution of higher learning, including ... the tuition and fees charged by an institution of higher learning."

• House Joint Resolution 1008 by Rep. Jim Dotson, R-Bentonville, would have the Highway Commission's powers and duties and the Highway Department director's duties prescribed by state law. Its title states that it would "provide that the state Highway Commission shall be governed in the same manner as all other state agencies."

Calendar

The calendar of public events of the 91st General Assembly for today, the 46th day of the 2017 regular session.

COMMITTEES

8 a.m. Personnel Subcommittee of the Joint Budget Committee, Room B, Multi-Agency Complex.

9 a.m. Joint Budget Committee, Room A, Multi-Agency Complex.

10 a.m. House Education Committee, Room 138.

10 a.m. House Judiciary Committee, Room 149.

10 a.m. House Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee, Room 130.

10 a.m. House Public Transportation Committee, Room B, Multi-Agency Complex.

10 a.m. House Revenue & Taxation Committee, Room

151.

10 a.m. Senate Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development Committee, Room 309.

10 a.m. Senate Insurance and Commerce Committee, Room 171.

10 a.m. Senate State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee, Old Supreme Court chamber. 10:30 a.m. Senate City, County and Local Affairs Committee, Room 272.

Upon adjournment of the House, House State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee, Room 151.

HOUSE

1:30 p.m. House convenes.

SENATE

1:30 p.m. Senate convenes.

A Section on 02/23/2017

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