ID rules for voter registration may cause confusion

Georgians who mailed voter registration applications to their county registrars are receiving letters telling them they must send in proof of identification or risk having their ballots challenged on Election Day.

But the letters overstate a new federal law designed to make it easier for Americans to register and vote, say election protection watchdogs and the Barack Obama campaign. The Secretary of State’s Office disagrees, saying the letters simply outline the federal law.

That law, the Help America Vote Act, says voters registering for the first time must show identification either at the time of registration or at the polls on Election Day.

But letters sent by registrars, a form letter provided them by the Secretary of State, suggests that Georgians must submit identification immediately, a problem some critics fear could cause confusion at the polls, dampen turnout or cause votes not to be counted.

“It’s ambiguous and unclear,” said Dawn Jones, a lawyer with the Georgia chapter of Election Protection, a nonpartisan national organization. “We’re trying to help clean up any confusion that keeps people from exercising their right to vote.”

The federal law is separate from Georgia law that requires voters to show valid photo identification at the polls. But the similarities could be causing confusion.

The letters sent to newly registered voters says the new federal law “mandates that any person who submits a voter registration form by mail and is registering for the first time in Georgia must provide appropriate identification.” It then lists 10 different forms of acceptable identification.

“Please submit a copy of your identification before Election Day to your county voter registration office either by mail or in person,” the letter says.

But the law does not require that, Jones said. A voter can also provide the identification at the polls when he or she votes.

The letter does acknowledge that fact, indirectly, by saying “if you cannot show any of the items of identification listed above on Election Day, you will be allowed to cast a provision ballot,” which is only counted if the voter returns to the registrar’s office with verifiable identification.

Obama’s campaign, which has made a major push to register new voters, said the letters have confused voters.

“We have asked the Secretary of State’s office to send information to county registrars to clarify what the law clearly says — that newly registered voters, just like all voters, only need to show their ID at the time they vote,” said Caroline Adelman, spokeswoman for the Democratic presidential campaign in Georgia.

Rob Simms, Georgia deputy secretary of state, said the letters voters have received are based on a template the secretary’s office provides counties for their use. These identification requirements, he said, have been in place for several years and are not new since Secretary of State Karen Handel was elected in 2006.

“To the best of our knowledge, our office hasn’t received any real complaints or questions about the requirements or what’s in the letters,” Simms said. “We think the requirements and letters are pretty straightforward. They’re mandated by federal law.”

Critics have also questioned information on the voter registration form available on Handel’s Web site. The form is designed to be printed, filled out and mailed to the registrar.

In the list of instructions, the form says, “Enclose a copy of your ID if you are submitting this form by mail and registering for the first time in Georgia.”

Below that, in a bright orange-colored box, the form says: “REQUIREMENT: If you are submitting this form by mail and you are registering for the first time in Georgia, enclose a copy of one of the following with your application,” and it lists a series of acceptable forms of identification.

Handel spokesman Matt Carrothers said the form says what is required before new voters can cast a ballot. Asked where on the form it says that identification can also be shown at the poll, Carrothers repeated that “the word requirement refers to what is required before you can vote.”

He also said the form predates Handel’s 2006 election and is the same form used under previous secretaries of state.

In Fayette County, registrar Tom Sawyer said the new federal law creates conflicting situations. The requirement of producing identification when first registering only applies to applications that are mailed in.

“If you walk into our office here today and register to vote, you do not have to provide any form of identification,” he said. “Don’t ask me why. You have to sign a sworn statement saying you are a U.S. citizen.”

Those voters would have to provide identification at the polls, however.

So when volunteers deliver stacks of filled-out voter registration forms, Sawyer and his staff mark them as needing identification because it’s typically not included with the form and the voter was not there in person to sign the sworn statement.

The idea behind the letter, Sawyer surmises, is to prevent delays on Election Day. If new voters who registered by mail submit the required ID ahead of time, it is one less thing poll workers have to worry about on what is likely to be a busy day.

In Thomas County, Obama organizer Haley Shank has routinely visited the registrar to deliver voter registration forms. One day last week, Shank said, she returned to the registrar to drop off forms when an employee there told her that every voter she registered was going to have to cast a provisional ballot because they did not provide identification with their forms.

Shank said she disagreed and urged the registrar’s staff to contact Handel’s office for guidance.

“The lady who’s been working there for a while said the message we’re getting from the Secretary of State is they need their ID” with the forms, Shank said.

Shank said she went to school with one of the registrar’s employees. A few days later, Shank said, she got a message from the former classmate on Facebook saying they had cleared up the problem and that provisional ballots won’t be required.

Shank feels badly for the registrars.

“They’re working their butts off,” she said. “They are in a hard place. They’re checking IDs, taking registration forms and processing forms and absentee ballots all at once. There’s too much going on in that office.”