CONGRESSMAN AND FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE TALKS VOTER ID LAW IN LIGHT OF NC RULING

Press Release

Today, Congressman Todd Rokita (R-IN) made the following statement following a federal district court ruling which upheld North Carolina's common sense photo ID law (NC State Conference of the NAACP v. McCrory).

"Voter integrity is a cornerstone of a healthy republic. States must have the ability to enforce a "one-person, one-vote' voting system. As Indiana's Secretary of State, I worked diligently to ensure that all voters' rights were defended against illegally cast votes. This ruling reaffirms that states have a legitimate interest in ensuring no one casts more than one ballot and bolsters the states' ability to prevent election fraud."

Rokita, who served as Indiana's Secretary of State and chief election officer from 2003-2011, successfully implemented the first-in-the-nation photo ID law and defended it all the way to the US Supreme Court in April 2008 (Indiana Democratic Party v. Todd Rokita; Crawford v. Marion Co Election Board). The law was upheld by the US Supreme Court in a 6-3 decision. Opponents of Indiana's law said that it would prevent tens of thousands of poor and minority voters from being able to cast a ballot.

"Since Indiana's law went in to effect 10 years ago, not a single eligible voter has been denied the right to vote. Virtually everything you do, from driving, to flying, to purchasing cold medicine, to applying for government assistance, requires a government issued photo ID. Why should the sacred civic transaction of casting a vote be any different?" said Rokita.

In his written opinion, Judge Thomas Schroeder of the Federal District Court in Winston-Salem, NC wrote that the law served as a "legitimate state interest" in an effort to "detect and deter fraud."

As Secretary of State, Rep. Rokita was heavily involved in the drafting and legislative phases as well as successful implementation of Indiana's Voter ID law. The law has been effect for a total of 16 primary and general elections. The 2005 law requires that valid government issued photo identification be presented by a person casting a ballot at a polling location. For those lacking a driver's license or other government-issued photo ID such as a passport or military ID, the state provides a free voter ID card, issued through the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. The law also contained failsafe measures for those with religious objections to being photographed.

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