Judge Overturns Minnesota ID law Aimed at Native Americans
/A federal judge on Friday overturned some
Minnesota voter registration requirements as too strict, including one
that barred American Indians from using their tribal identification
card if they live outside a reservation. The ACLU of Minnesota and
several American Indian groups had filed a petition Thursday claiming
that Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer implemented overly restrictive
requirements for citizens wishing to vote for the first time. The
petitioners, which include the National Congress of American Indians, a
member of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibe and a member of the Fond du Lac
Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, said state requirements for
identification at polling places are more strict than federal
requirements. Federal statutes allow people registering by mail to
provide either a current photo identification or a copy of a utility
bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck or other government
document that shows the voter's name and address. State statutes
require some people who have not voted in Minnesota for a federal
office to present a current photo identification in addition to a
recent utility bill. The ACLU said that made Minnesota's standard
stricter than the federal standard. The group said the restrictions
unfairly targeted American Indians, since state law accepts a tribal ID
for Election Day registration only if the citizen lives on a
reservation. [more]
- State sued over tribal IDs [more] and [more]
- Secretary of State Kiffmeyer under fire for handling of elections [more]
