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State lawmaker wants to require ID to vote
By Mike Riopell
mike.riopell@lee.net
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SPRINGFIELD -- After a U.S. Supreme Court decision this week, a Republican lawmaker says he plans to push forward with a plan to require Illinois voters to show a photo identification card before casting a ballot.

The nation’s high court this week upheld an Indiana law requiring IDs for voting. The move essentially gives officials in any state the OK to do the same.

In Illinois, state Rep. David Reis, R-Willow Hill, has been trying to convince his fellow lawmakers to approve a mandatory ID law for three years without success. He says the requirement of showing proof of identification is important to preventing voter fraud.

But the Republican-backed concept might not sit well with the Democrat-controlled Illinois House and Senate. State Rep. David Miller, D-Lynwood, said many Democrats agree that requiring an ID to vote could squeeze out some voters.

“Unfortunately, a lot of lower-income people don’t have your traditional ID,” he said.

But Reis argues ID cards are routinely required in daily life to buy certain things.

“Why not to vote?” Reis said.

A House panel narrowly approved Reis’ plan last month, but the full House has yet to vote. Reis hopes to get a vote in the coming week.

The legislation is House Bill 4403.

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Reader comments on this story - 5 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

good ol boy wrote on May 8, 2008 3:41 PM:

" Yeah, I'd like to see Chicago get ID's for those people in the 3 "Lake Precincts" that always get counted somehow!! "

Gov't oppressed Mule wrote on Apr 30, 2008 10:46 AM:

" “Unfortunately, a lot of lower-income people don’t have your traditional ID,” he said." Maybe someone should tell him it's against the law to not have a gov't issued ID on you. If you are walking down the street and don't have ID on you, technically you could be arrested and fined, so instead of allowing them to break the law, how about helping them follow the law? "

Burns wrote on Apr 30, 2008 8:14 AM:

" It's nice that Rep. Reis equates consumerism with democracy. Sign o' the times. I wonder sometimes if people understand that the world existed before them and will exist after, and that the experiences of their lives are not the sum total of the existence. "

The Cat wrote on Apr 29, 2008 7:58 PM:

" An ID to buy tobacco or booze is fine but to vote? Remember the Donkey oarty motto: vote early and often and vote for the feeble minded in the nursing homes and your dead great grandparents. "

Jarhead71 wrote on Apr 29, 2008 7:10 PM:

" Require IDs to vote?!? How will Chicago deal with this? Dead people don't carry IDs any longer. This is going to make it hard for Chicago Democrats to conduct business as usual. OOPS! I forgot, Chicago Democrats control the IL Legislature and Governor's Office. This bill will never become law in IL. "
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