Sen. Bryan King,
R- Green Forest, chats with Sen. Missy Irvin, R- Mountain View, during the discussion about voter- identifi cation legislation at the meeting Thursday morning of the Senate State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee.
An Arkansas Senate committee on Thursday recommended that the upper chamber approve both a proposed constitutional amendment and a bill on the same topic — requiring voters to show a photo identification in order to cast ballots.
House Bill 1047 is by Rep. Mark Lowery, R- Maumelle. The proposed constitutional amendment is House Joint Resolution 1016 by Rep. Robin Lundstrum, R- Elm Springs. If the Senate approves HJR1016, it would appear on the ballot in the November 2018 general election. If the House concurs with a Senate amendment to HB1047, the bill will go to the governor.
Proponents of both measures contend that they will increase voter confidence and guard against voter fraud. Opponents counter there is little fraud of this kind, and the identification burden on voters would unduly restrict the right to vote.
The Senate State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee endorsed the latest version of Lowery’s legislation, after Lowery said the bill was amended to clarify that a provisional ballot cast by a voter may be counted rather than require the ballot to be counted. The bill would allow a voter, if he doesn’t present photo identification, to sign a sworn statement attesting to his identity under the penalty of perjury. A provisional ballot would be counted after the voter’s signature is verified on his voter registration card, Lowery said.
Under the bill, a voter casting a provisional ballot also may return to the county board of election commissioners or the county clerk by noon on the Monday after the election and present a document or identification card that complies with the legislation for his ballot to be counted.
The legislation also would require voters who submit an absentee ballot to enclose a copy of a document or identification card.
Under HB1047, identification that would be accepted includes: driver’s licenses, photo identification cards, concealedhandgun carry licenses, U. S. passports, employee badges or identification documents, student identification cards issued by accredited Arkansas colleges and universities, U. S. military identification documents, public- assistance identification cards and free voterverification cards. The secretary of state’s office purchased equipment for each county to provide the free cards after a 2013 voter identification bill became law. Lowery has said there should be no additional cost.
In 2014, the Arkansas Supreme Court struck down that 2013 law. Four justices said the law added a qualification to the voter qualifications in the state’s constitution.
But Lowery has said his legislation is aimed at surviving a legal challenge. Amendment 51 of the Arkansas Constitution sets up the voter registration process “and all you are doing is verifying voter registration through the use of photo ID,” he told the Senate committee last month.
Amendment 51 authorizes lawmakers to amend voter- registration measures if at least two- thirds of both houses of the General Assembly approve the changes. The 100- member House earlier voted to approve the bill 74- 21. A two- thirds vote of the 35- member Senate is 24 votes.
The Senate committee on Thursday also recommended approval of the House- approved HJR1016 that would require the General Assembly to enact a law requiring voters to present identification to receive a ballot. Absentee voters would have to enclose a copy of a valid photo identification.
The Senate on Wednesday had referred the proposed amendment back to the Senate committee at the request of Sen. Bryan King, R- Green Forest, to be amended.
But King said Thursday he decided, after consulting legislative staff, not to try to change the proposed amendment so that someone who votes absentee can either put a copy of a photo ID in with his ballot or a signed affidavit.
If voters approve the proposed amendment in the 2018 general election, the 2019 General Assembly can prescribe rules to implement it, he said.