In a largely party-line vote, the Arkansas Senate on Tuesday sent Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe a bill to require voters to show photo identification before casting ballots.
Under current state law, poll workers ask for identifying documents, but voters are not required to show them.
The Senate voted 22-12 to send Senate Bill 2, sponsored by Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, to the governor.
Sen. Larry Teague,D-Nashville, joined the Senate’s 21 Republicans in voting for the legislation, while 12 Democrats voted against it. Sen. Bruce Maloch, D-Magnolia, didn’t vote.
The bill would instruct the secretary of state to create rules requiring county clerks to issue voter-identification cards at no cost to individuals who don’t have other valid forms of identification and have filled out voter-registration applications. If enacted, the bill would become effective Jan. 1, 2014, but only if the state had the money to issue the voter-ID cards.
Similar bills have been enacted in Georgia, Indiana, Kansas and Tennessee, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin also have similar laws, though they are not currently in effect because of lawsuits or because the federal government has not signed off on them.
Tuesday’s vote came after plenty of partisan wrangling. Democrats argued that the legislation needed to receive two-thirds of the vote to pass. Republicans said a simple majority would suffice.
After Lt. Gov. Mark Darr, a Republican who presides over the Senate, sided with the Republicans, Democrats appealed his decision to the Rules Committee, which is dominated by Democrats.
The Rules Committee voted 8-6 along party lines to side with the Democrats, but the Senate, in a party-line vote, rejected the Rules Committee’s decision.
“This was just a political stunt,” King told reporters afterward. “You can make an argument for anything down here. Whether the facts are on your side is a different story. … Why wait this long to raise these objections? It’s just politics, unfortunately.”
But Sen. Stephanie Flowers, D-Pine Bluff, denied that her challenge of Darr’s ruling was political theater.
She said she regrets that she didn’t review the Arkansas Constitution before the Senate’s 23-12 vote approving the bill last month, and she insisted that Amendment 51 requires a two-thirds vote to add to voter qualifications.
“But there is no excuse for the whole Senate to overlook the constitutional provision as it related to voting rights,” Flowers said.
According to Section 19 ofAmendment 51, “The General Assembly may, in the same manner as required for amendment of laws initiated by the people, amend Sections 5 through 15 of this amendment, so long as such amendments are germane to this amendment, and consistent with its policy and purposes.”
Democrats maintain that SB2 amends the constitution because it adds a new qualification and therefore requires the same percentage of votes “as required for amendment of laws initiated by the people” - 66 percent.
But Republicans say SB2 makes no constitutional changes and that Amendment 51 is therefore irrelevant.
House Democrats, led by Rep. Jim Nickels of Sherwood, tried to derail the legislation by arguing that it needed to pass by a two-thirds vote. They failed in their attempt.
Last week, the House of Representatives voted 51-44 to approve the legislation after the House Rules Committee decided that the bill needed only a majority vote in the House and Senate for approval. In a voice vote, the committee found that the billdoes not deal with voter-registration requirements found in Amendment 51, and thus did not need a two-thirds vote to pass.
King, an outspoken critic of Beebe, said he hopes Beebe signs his bill into the law.
But he added, “If [the governor] had concerns why didn’t he say something two months ago or two and a half months ago or where has [the attorney general been] on this whole thing. … I hope [Beebe]doesn’t veto it, and we have to go through this process again [to overturn his veto].”
Beebe spokesman Matt DeCample said the governor is concerned about whether King’s legislation adds another qualification to vote, which is set out under Article 3 to the Arkansas Constitution, and he is waiting for a response from the Democratic Attorney General Dustin Mc-Daniel regarding the matter.
Beebe asked King withinthe past month whether there was another way for him to achieve his goal of eliminating voter fraud, and King appeared determined to push ahead with his legislation, according to DeCample.
In a letter dated March 13, Nickels asked McDaniel for an advisory opinion about whether King’s bill would violate Article 3 of the Arkansas Constitution by imposing additional qualifications on the right of a citizen to vote. Nickels asked McDaniel to “issue your opinion on this matter as expeditiously [as] possible.”
McDaniel spokesman Aaron Sadler said McDaniel’s office is working on a response, but he doesn’t know when it will be completed.
Flowers told senators that her father was an attorney who fought the poll tax, and she urged her colleagues to heed the recommendation of the Senate Rules Committee.
But King said he has been trying to pass the bill since 2007, successfully guiding it through the House in 2011, and no one suggested it required a two-thirds vote for approval at that time.
“Where have you been?” he repeatedly asked about senators who contend that the legislation requires a twothirds vote for approval.
Sen. Joyce Elliott, D-Little Rock, portrayed the vote as a civil-rights issue.
“What are we fixing here?
“As much as I know about what we are about to do, I feel compelled to say it is wrong,” she said.
Elliott said she became involved in politics as a 9-yearold, and she heard her grandmother and grandfather whisper about the poll tax.
“I came to believe in politics because I have seen old black people fight for the right to vote,” she said.
“I just ask you not to go backward.”
Elliott said King’s bill clearly requires a two-thirds vote for approval in the House and Senate, and “if we want to do it, and I don’t think we should, we should at least do it right.”
Sen. Jason Rapert, R-Bigelow, said he respects Flowers and Elliott, and “if I thought this particular bill would do what you are saying, I would be against it.”
“This has nothing to do with voter registration [in Amendment 51],” Rapert said. “[The bill] has only to do with the process by which somebody proves their identity at the polls. I believe this actually brings greater integrity to the process. It is not too much to ask.”
Front Section, Pages 1 on 03/20/2013