Posted by Jonathan Adler:
What About Those Nuns?
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2008_05_04-2008_05_10.shtml#1210259337
The WSJ's John Fund [1]suggests there's a little more to the story of
the "disenfranchised" nuns who could not vote on Tuesday because they
lacked adequate IDs.
the story turns out to be much more complicated. The nuns had all
been told earlier that they would need an up-to-date ID to vote.
But none of them had asked to be taken to get an ID, and some
flatly said they did not want to. Then on Election Day the nuns all
showed up to vote.
They could have been given provisional ballots, which would have
counted if they had shown up at a county clerk's office within 10
days to show an ID or sign an affidavit testifying to their
identity.
The nuns would have none of it. According to the Associated Press,
they told Sister McGuire that they were not interested in getting
an official state ID. She decided it was futile to offer them a
provisional ballot. She says it would have been impossible for them
to get them to a motor vehicle branch--the nearest one is two miles
away--within the allotted 10 days after the election.
But if their mobility is restricted, the Indiana law provides other
ways in which they could have voted. Nursing homes can get a waiver
of the ID requirement for residents to vote. And any Indianan over
65 is automatically eligible to cast an absentee ballot.
References
1.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121018485894374391.html?mod=opinion_journal_political_diary
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