Case Summary
Issue:
Whether a state statute that requires voters to present a government-issued photo ID prior to casting a vote in person violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution?
Plaintiff:
William Crawford; Indiana Democratic Party; Marion County Democratic Central Committee; United Senior Action of Indiana; Indianapolis Resource Center for Independent Living; Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis; Indianapolis Branch of the Nation Association for the Advancement of Colored People
Defendant:
Marion County Election Board; Todd Rokita, Indiana Secretary of State; J. Bradley King, Pamela Potesta, and Kristi Robertson, co-Directors, Indiana Election Division
Amicus Curiae:
Mountain States Legal Foundation
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Case History
In July 2005, Indiana law was changed to require persons seeking to vote in person to present a government-issued photo identification, unless the person either votes by absentee ballot or lives in a nursing home. Those who do not have any photo IDs and must vote in person, if they vote at all, because they do not live in nursing homes and are ineligible to cast absentee ballots, may obtain a free photo ID from the Indiana motor vehicle bureau by presenting a birth certificate (or certificate of naturalization if born outside the United States) or a certified copy of a birth certificate and a document, such as a utility bill, with the person’s name and address on it. Both indigent and non-indigent people who do not have (or do not have with them) a photo ID may cast a provisional ballot, after which the voter has 10 days either to file an affidavit of indigency or to procure and present a photo ID.
Some candidates for public office, voters, and organizations such as the Democratic Party challenged the Indiana statute as an undue burden on the right to vote. In April 2006, the Indiana federal district court upheld the law as a reasonable restriction to protect the integrity of the electoral process. On January 4, 2007, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed the district court’s judgment, although on different grounds.
On July 2, 2007, the Indiana Democratic Party petitioned for U.S. Supreme Court review. On September 25, 2007, the Court granted certiorari. On November 5, 2007, petitioners filed opening briefs, and on December 3, 2007, respondents filed briefs in opposition. On December 6, 2007, MSLF filed a friend of the court brief in support of Indiana’s voting requirements. On December 20, 2007, reply briefs were filed by petitioners. On January 9, 2008, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments.
