Justices to hear oral arguments today on state's voter-ID law

The Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments today in a case challenging the constitutionality of the state's voter-identification law.

The state is appealing the May injunction from Circuit Judge Tim Fox that found that the voter-ID law is unconstitutional. His injunction was stayed by the high court pending appeal.

Supporters say the law will lessen the chances of voter fraud.

In April, a group of voters-- backed by the Arkansas Public Law Center and the American Civil Liberties Union chapter in Arkansas -- filed a complaint in Pulaski County Circuit Court that stated the new qualification for voters go beyond the qualifications listed in Article 3, Section 1 of the Arkansas Constitution and are therefore unconstitutional.

Opponents of the new law argued that the additional requirement that people show identification at the polls added an extra barrier that could disenfranchise voters.

Attorneys from Secretary of State Mark Martin's office have argued that Fox was out of line when he issued his injunction, arguing that Fox's court was not the venue for invalidating a law.

Martin's office also has argued that the plaintiffs didn't demonstrate that the new law had violated their rights.

According to filings by Martin's office, any law enacted by the Legislature carried a "presumption of constitutionality" and that "sovereign immunity" protects the state from injunctions.

The voter-ID law, Act 595 of 2013, was vetoed by Gov. Mike Beebe. Beebe said it presented an unnecessary barrier for voters and that it sought to solve problems of voter fraud that didn't exist in the state.

It was eventually overridden by the Legislature and went into effect at the start of this year.

Voters who don't have valid photo identification at the polls only can cast provisional ballots that are only counted if they can later present election officials with valid identification.

According to court filings, the ballots of more than 1,000 voters were not counted as a result of the law.

Arkansas is one of 32 states with some form of voter-identification law in effect, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The organization classified Arkansas has having a "strict" version of the law, one of only eight states given that designation.

Today's arguments, which begin at 9 a.m., also will be streamed on the court's website: https://courts.arkansas.gov/courts/supreme-court/oral-argument-videos.

There is no definite time line for when the court will rule but early voting begins on Oct. 20.

Metro on 10/02/2014

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