State justices rule voter-ID law null, void

Unconstitutional, they say

Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, sponsored the law that he said has been kicked around the Legislature since 2007.
Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, sponsored the law that he said has been kicked around the Legislature since 2007.

The state's highest court Wednesday struck down Arkansas' voter-identification law.

In voiding Act 595 -- which went into effect at the start of this year and required voters to show valid identification at the polls in order to vote -- the Supreme Court said the law violates the constitutional rights of Arkansans.

Arkansas was one of 34 states that enacted voter-identification laws, and according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, it had one of the strictest such laws in the nation.

For the Nov. 4 election, registered voters will not have to present photo IDs at the polls.

photo

Rita Sklar, the head of the Arkansas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, which represented the Arkansas voters who challenged the law, said she was ecstatic.

Rita Sklar, the head of the Arkansas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, which represented the Arkansas voters who challenged the law, said she was ecstatic.

"That's it," she said. "There is no recourse [for the law]. It's over. Done. DOA."

Officials with the Arkansas attorney general's office declined to comment Wednesday evening, saying they were still processing the court's ruling.

In a statement released after the ruling, Arkansas' chief elections officer Secretary of State Mark Martin said: "We will defend the voter ID law put in place by the Legislature to the fullest extent possible."

A spokesman from Martin's office was unable to comment further late Wednesday.

Four of the court's justices said the law added a qualification to the voter qualifications long enshrined in the state's constitution.

According to Article 3, Section 1 of the Arkansas Constitution, in order to vote, Arkansans need only be older than age 18, U.S. citizens, Arkansas residents and properly registered to vote.

The requirement that voters present identification at the polls was tantamount to a fifth qualification, according to the opinion written by Justice Donald Corbin.

Corbin and three other justices said the voter-ID law "is unconstitutional on its face."

"To hold otherwise would disenfranchise Arkansas voters and would negate 'the object sought to be accomplished' by the framers of the Arkansas Constitution."

In a concurring opinion, Justice Courtney Goodson said it was not necessary to scrutinize the law as it relates to Article 3 of the constitution. Goodson was joined by Justices Karen Baker and Jo Hart.

The state Legislature's power to regulate elections, Goodson noted, stems from Amendment 51, Section 19 of the constitution.

Amendment 51 authorizes lawmakers to amend voter-registration measures but only with a vote of two-thirds of the lawmakers in both houses of the General Assembly, the same number of votes needed to reverse an initiated act of the people.

The voter-identification law was vetoed by Gov. Mike Beebe in March 2013, and lawmakers overrode his veto. Neither of those votes reached the two-thirds threshold.

"Indeed, [defenders of the law concede] that the General Assembly did not enact its voter-identification provision as an amendment to Amendment 51 or follow the proper provisions therein," Goodson wrote. "As a consequence, Act 595 is null and void."

Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, sponsored the law that he said has been kicked around the Legislature since 2007.

King, and other supporters of voter-ID laws across the country, argued that the laws were needed to curb voter fraud.

On Wednesday, he said he was "disappointed" not only by the way the Supreme Court ruled but how the process was handled.

"We never got a fair and full hearing," King said. "It got 20 minutes of arguments through this whole thing ... that's not the court system I was taught we were supposed to have."

The law was challenged by several voters in April. In early May, Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox struck it down as unconstitutional on its face.

Fox stayed his decision pending appeal before the Supreme Court.

In court filings, the secretary of state's office argued that the plaintiffs lacked standing, had failed to sue the right people and couldn't prevail because of the state's sovereign immunity.

Corbin's opinion ignored the procedural aspects of the challenge and focused on the on-its-face challenge to the law.

During oral arguments on Oct. 2, A.J. Kelly of the secretary of state's office argued that the requirement that voters show identification was only an enhancement of voter registration measures.

In Arkansas, Amendment 51 empowers county clerks to register voters. At the time of registration, voters are required to produce valid identification.

But requiring IDs at the polls goes beyond registration, opponents said.

Corbin said that for 150 years, the state Supreme Court has rejected restrictions on voting if they're not found in the state constitution.

"We do not interpret [the law's] proof-of-identity requirement as a procedural means of determining whether an Arkansas voter can 'lawfully register to vote in the election,'" Corbin wrote. "Under those circumstances, Act 595 would erroneously necessitate every lawfully registered voter in Arkansas to requalify themselves in each election."

Sklar, among other critics of the law, considered the court's ruling a win for Arkansas voters.

She said it is impossible to know how many people the law's restrictions would have prevented from voting, but she pointed to the nearly 1,200 uncounted ballots from the May primaries as a good indicator.

In briefs filed with the court, critics also said such laws adversely affect the elderly, the poor and members of minority groups in the state.

"There are so may roadblocks that were set up. [Voters] may have been voting and even been recognized by all the poll workers at their polling place, but they wouldn't have been allowed to vote," she said. "All I can say is that we're thrilled [by the ruling]."

The Democratic Party of Arkansas, which has been working to increase turnout in the hotly contested midterm elections, announced its support of the justices' decision.

"Hip, hip, hooray!" Party chairman Vincent Insalaco wrote. "We are thrilled that the Republican Voter ID law was unanimously struck down as unconstitutional. ... This law only made it harder for voters to exercise their most sacred right."

Chairman of the Republican Party of Arkansas Doyle Webb expressed disappointment over the ruling.

"We had hoped that the Supreme Court would affirm the Voter ID law and help restore the integrity of the ballot in Arkansas," Webb wrote. "Unfortunately, the Court failed to do so."

Webb added, "We do not anticipate that this will have any impact on Republican victories in November."

Beebe spokesman Matt DeCample said the ruling was well-received by the governor.

"When the governor vetoed the law last year, he laid out the reasons pretty simply ... he's sworn to uphold the constitution of the state of Arkansas," DeCample said. "When [his veto is] confirmed by the court, he's glad to see it."

When asked if he thought there might be attempts in the future to amend the constitution to provide for a voter-ID requirement, King said it would take a two-thirds vote of the Legislature or a ballot measure approved by Arkansas voters.

Sklar said she doubts that the issue will re-emerge.

"I don't think that two-thirds of the Arkansas Legislature is going to want to put up these kind of roadblocks to Arkansas voters," Sklar said.

Early voting in the Nov. 4 election begins Monday.

A section on 10/16/2014

Upcoming Events