Richmond, VA- Concerning the Governor’s actions related to voter ID legislation, SB 1256, the following statement can be attributed to Claire Guthrie Gastañaga, ACLU of Virginia Executive Director:
The ACLU of Virginia is extremely disappointed that Governor Bob McDonnell has chosen to sign legislation requiring photo ID at the polls for all voters. There is no evidence of need for such legislation, particularly after the Commonwealth enacted an enhanced ID requirement last year. There is not one case of voter impersonation fraud in Virginia, the only voter fraud that photo ID at the polls addresses.
This legislation has the potential to disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of eligible voters throughout the state, and is likely to disproportionately impact voters who are elderly, low-income, racial or ethnic minorities, persons with disabilities, and students. It will also impose new and unnecessary costs on taxpayers who will foot the bill for new equipment and personnel needed to make free photo IDs available to voters who don’t have one and the extensive public education campaigns needed to address the confusion that will surely result from changing our ID requirements again.
via Governor Signs Photo ID Bill ‹ American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia. <<<— Read the Rest
