Indiana Voter ID Law Struck Down

I have been wanting to do a blog entry for a while after hearing that the Indiana Court of Appeals struck down Indiana's Voter ID law, the strictest in the country. The law, however, is still in affect as it is being appealed to the Indiana Supreme Court. While I don't agree this law should be in place, the reasoning used to strike down the law is activist in nature. The point the judges make is that in-person votes are treated differently from mail-in absentee votes. This does reveal that the purpose of the law is to disenfranchise Democrats rather than prevent vote fraud, since the vast majority of vote fraud comes through mail-in absentee ballots. However, it does not constitute legal discrimination but consequential discrimination. Everyone has the right to choose between voting in-person or voting through the mail. This is procedural discrimination and not socioeconomic discrimination. It is just like everyone having the right to marry the opposite but not the same gender. Even though it may disproportionately affect a certain segment of the population, that does not make it illegal. The only ground this law has to be struck down is undue burden for voting if that is prohibited in the Indiana Constitution (since the US Supreme Court has already weighed in that it does not violated Federal law).

Getting any form of official Indiana ID is difficult. Despite the requirement for a Social Security Card being present in Florida as well, I was able to get a learners permit after reciting my Social Security Number from memory at the Hialeah DMV. (Interestingly, the person misspelled Hialeah as "Hiaelah" on the learner's permit.) The first time I went, in the summer of 2004, I was turned away after several hours of waiting (I think it was about 5), because I read my Social Security Number from a paper my father had given me. I was given a "fastpass" essentially and told to come back when I had my Social Security Number memorized. I did and was able to get my learner's permit. I never tried to get a Florida license.

After I moved to Indiana to go to college, I decided to become an Indiana resident for various reasons including Indiana's political matters being more relevant than Florida's and my preparation to be licensed in Indiana to teach. I thought I could just submit my dorm address as proof of residency after being there 60 days along with my Florida's license for identification when I registered to vote in Indiana. I was wrong, but my Star Financial bank statement was good enough to get me registered after I was turned down the first time. I was not able to vote in the Democratic Primary for Barack Obama, however, due to the Indiana Voter ID Law. I thought that my Florida learner's permit would be accepted as identification under the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the United States Constitution. What I failed to fully realize was that my Florida's learner permit contradicted the residency that my voter registration card demonstrated. I was able to vote in the main election for John McCain (strictly a pro-life decision), however, after I brought my Passport up from Florida.

When I tried to get a license in Indiana, I was turned away, because I showed my Selective Service Card, which is not considered valid proof of a Social Security Number, rather than a Social Security Card. This shows the problem with Indiana's requirement to get an Indiana license withing 60 days of becoming a resident. My father was able to locate my long lost Social Security Card after looking for it for a while, so hopefully now I will be able to get an Indiana driver's license.