Action | Revise Valid Definition |
Stage | Proposed |
Comment Period | Ended on 8/4/2014 |
The new voter identification rules are intended to make certain that the person appearing at the polling place is the person registered to vote. The photo ID's are intended to prove IDENTITY, and even an expired driver's license or passport still serves to prove identity, even if the document cannot be used to drive or travel. Many of the other photo ID's that are acceptable such as student ID's or government employee ID's have no expiration. Whether or not the ID has expired should be irrelevant, therefore, so long as it was originally issued by a valid government agency. The person's identity does not expire when the document does. I fear that the proposed change requiring the document not be expired will have a disproportionately adverse affect on our senior and disabled voters, who often do not have current drivers' licenses as they no longer drive.