Panel: Photo ID Worth The Expense
Obenshain Bill Advances To Full House Next Week
Posted: February 16, 2013
HARRISONBURG — Requiring voters to bring photo identification to the polls comes at a cost that budget writers in the House of Delegates are willing to absorb.
The House Appropriations Committee voted 15-7 on Friday to require Virginians to have a photo ID when casting a ballot. Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg, sponsored the measure, which heads to the full House next week.
This is the first time a photo ID requirement has reached the floors of both chambers. Costs and the argument it will discriminate against voters who do not possess IDs have held it back.
“There are lots of predictions that the world as we know it comes to an end … as a result of the passing of this. In reality, none of that’s true,” Obenshain said Friday afternoon. “We’re going to give the photo IDs [free] to the people that need them. There’s no burden.”
The Senate passed the bill last week with Republican Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling casting the 41st and tie-breaking vote. All 20 Democrats in the chamber voted against it, saying that it disenfranchises certain groups, including minorities and the elderly, both of whom tend to vote Democratic.
In the House committee Friday, a Democrat, Johnny Joannou of Portsmouth, voted for it and Republican Chris Jones of Suffolk voted against it.
Earlier this session, the House Privileges and Elections Committee rolled a similar “no excuses” photo ID measure from Del. Rob Bell, R-Albemarle, into another voting bill, defeating the photo requirement.
The Senate passed that House bill on Friday, which removes certain forms of identification from the list of what’s acceptable at polls. Bolling cast the tie-breaking vote on the measure, which now goes to Gov. Bob McDonnell.
Obenshain and Bell are battling for the Republican nomination for attorney general. Both made requiring a photo ID to vote a priority heading into this session.
They often cite an incident in late October as an example of the potential for fraudulent behavior without photo ID. At that time, the son of Rep. Jim Moran, D-Arlington, was seen speaking on an undercover video about how to get around new voting requirements.
Documents that had been allowed to establish a voter’s identity, including utility bills and bank statements, were eliminated in the bill the Senate passed Friday.
The documents were a part of Obenshain and Bell’s efforts last year to require an ID — but not one with a photograph — to cast an official ballot.
“It represented progress,” Obenshain said. “We went from no ID to some ID requirement.”
Costs Debated
Obenshain’s legislation has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2014 — the first day of fiscal 2015 — and its provisions are contingent upon the General Assembly funding it in budget amendments this year.
The Virginia State Board of Elections estimates a voter outreach campaign will cost more than $200,000 a year for fiscal years 2015 through 2017. It also estimates a one-time $166,250 cost for purchasing equipment next year.
The board studied Georgia’s photo ID system and estimates that 4,300 Virginians will request IDs in each of the next three years. The number will jump to 12,300 during the next presidential election in 2016.
Producing and mailing the IDs would cost $3 each, putting government on the hook for around $36,000 in 2017.
Altogether, the price tag is less than $900,000.
“We worked very hard to get the cost under control,” Obenshain said.
But the Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis, which reviews state fiscal issues, says the entire cost will be substantially higher. Based on estimates from other states, the institute says the cost would be between $7.3 million and $21.8 million.
The difference largely comes from the institute’s estimate that 870,000 Virginians lack photo ID to vote.
Sen. Mark Herring, D-Loudoun, who seeks the Democratic nomination for attorney general, points to cost as a reason photo IDs should not be required.
“Senator Obenshain and his Republican colleagues are having a harder and harder time convincing people of their policies, so rather than change their politics, their solution is to make it harder and harder for people who disagree with them to vote,” Herring said in a statement. “Their misguided efforts are wrong, will cost the Commonwealth of Virginia more money and will disenfranchise voters all across the state.”
Contact Preston Knight at 574-6272 or pknight@dnronline.com
The House Appropriations Committee voted 15-7 on Friday to require Virginians to have a photo ID when casting a ballot. Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg, sponsored the measure, which heads to the full House next week.
This is the first time a photo ID requirement has reached the floors of both chambers. Costs and the argument it will discriminate against voters who do not possess IDs have held it back.
“There are lots of predictions that the world as we know it comes to an end … as a result of the passing of this. In reality, none of that’s true,” Obenshain said Friday afternoon. “We’re going to give the photo IDs [free] to the people that need them. There’s no burden.”
The Senate passed the bill last week with Republican Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling casting the 41st and tie-breaking vote. All 20 Democrats in the chamber voted against it, saying that it disenfranchises certain groups, including minorities and the elderly, both of whom tend to vote Democratic.
In the House committee Friday, a Democrat, Johnny Joannou of Portsmouth, voted for it and Republican Chris Jones of Suffolk voted against it.
Earlier this session, the House Privileges and Elections Committee rolled a similar “no excuses” photo ID measure from Del. Rob Bell, R-Albemarle, into another voting bill, defeating the photo requirement.
The Senate passed that House bill on Friday, which removes certain forms of identification from the list of what’s acceptable at polls. Bolling cast the tie-breaking vote on the measure, which now goes to Gov. Bob McDonnell.
Obenshain and Bell are battling for the Republican nomination for attorney general. Both made requiring a photo ID to vote a priority heading into this session.
They often cite an incident in late October as an example of the potential for fraudulent behavior without photo ID. At that time, the son of Rep. Jim Moran, D-Arlington, was seen speaking on an undercover video about how to get around new voting requirements.
Documents that had been allowed to establish a voter’s identity, including utility bills and bank statements, were eliminated in the bill the Senate passed Friday.
The documents were a part of Obenshain and Bell’s efforts last year to require an ID — but not one with a photograph — to cast an official ballot.
“It represented progress,” Obenshain said. “We went from no ID to some ID requirement.”
Costs Debated
Obenshain’s legislation has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2014 — the first day of fiscal 2015 — and its provisions are contingent upon the General Assembly funding it in budget amendments this year.
The Virginia State Board of Elections estimates a voter outreach campaign will cost more than $200,000 a year for fiscal years 2015 through 2017. It also estimates a one-time $166,250 cost for purchasing equipment next year.
The board studied Georgia’s photo ID system and estimates that 4,300 Virginians will request IDs in each of the next three years. The number will jump to 12,300 during the next presidential election in 2016.
Producing and mailing the IDs would cost $3 each, putting government on the hook for around $36,000 in 2017.
Altogether, the price tag is less than $900,000.
“We worked very hard to get the cost under control,” Obenshain said.
But the Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis, which reviews state fiscal issues, says the entire cost will be substantially higher. Based on estimates from other states, the institute says the cost would be between $7.3 million and $21.8 million.
The difference largely comes from the institute’s estimate that 870,000 Virginians lack photo ID to vote.
Sen. Mark Herring, D-Loudoun, who seeks the Democratic nomination for attorney general, points to cost as a reason photo IDs should not be required.
“Senator Obenshain and his Republican colleagues are having a harder and harder time convincing people of their policies, so rather than change their politics, their solution is to make it harder and harder for people who disagree with them to vote,” Herring said in a statement. “Their misguided efforts are wrong, will cost the Commonwealth of Virginia more money and will disenfranchise voters all across the state.”
Contact Preston Knight at 574-6272 or pknight@dnronline.com