"Election Official Confidential: a scoop from Ohio"

[Eric J in MN]

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/16/121554/28

VOTER ID law changes in Ohio mean that many, many people will have difficulty establishing their identity and legal address so that they can vote on a regular ballot, instead of a provisional ballot.

If a person doesn't have a current driver's license with an address that matches their voting registration, they are in for a world of trouble come election day. In order to avoid processing thousands of provisional ballots, the BOE wants Precinct Election Officials to send people home to get their ID, or bring back a utility bill or bank statement to prove their legal address. If you don't drive, if you don't get a paycheck with an address on it or your utility bills aren't in your name, you may be out of luck. Teen voters will have trouble providing legal ID, as will poor voters, unemployed voters, people who rent their homes, etc. To add to this mess, women who have changed their name because of marriage are now required to cast a provisional ballot if there's a variance between their voting registration and their legal ID, when previously a simple Name Change Form would have been sufficient to vote a regular ballot.

The new state Voter ID law is so flawed that the BOE has determined that these documents are NOT acceptable ID to vote, typically because they don't have an address: Social Security card, Birth Certificate, Home/Car Insurance Card, Military ID, US Passport, State Employee ID, College ID, Notices from the BOE. Thanks to Ohio House Bill 3, a parting gift from the Ohio Republican Party, it is now easier for an American citizen to enter the United States from a foreign country than it is to vote in the State of Ohio.

- histopresto in a Daily Kos diary