Court Throws Out Indiana Voter ID Law

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that Indiana's voter identification law is unconstitutional because of the way absentee voting is handled.

In the unanimous, 29-page ruling, the court said it tossed out the law because in-person voters are treated differently than those who submit absentee ballots.

Read: Court Of Appeals Ruling

In-person voters are required to show a photo identification to prove who they are, but there are no requirements for an affidavit from mail-in voters.

"A less stringent requirement for absentee voters than for those voting in person would not be reasonable," the court opined in its ruling.

The ruling cited "inconsistent and partial treatment favoring absentee voters who choose to mail their votes" as the primary reason for its decision.

Backers of the law said it curbs voter fraud. Those against the law contend that it keeps poor, older and minority voters from casting ballots.

The ruling drew a swift, stern rebuke from Republican House Leader Brian Bosma, who helped champion the law's passage four years ago.

"Indiana’s voter ID law is held up as a model of election reform around the country," Bosma said in a statement released late Thursday morning. "In today’s culture, when we routinely show identification to board a plane, cash a check or even rent a video, it is critical that we take reasonable measures to protect the founding principal of one person, one vote."

Democrats said there was never any evidence that a voter ID law was needed to prevent voter fraud.

"This is a step in the right direction. We've maintained all along that this law … wasn't needed," said Dan Parker, chairman of the Indiana Democratic Party. "It doesn't address the fundamental vulnerabilities in our system, and it does disenfranchise voters."

Gov. Mitch Daniels blasted Judge Patricia Riley and the other two judges on the panel who concurred in the decision.

"It's a preposterous decision, an extreme decision," Daniels said. "It came, in this case, from a judge who's been reversed before, and I expect that to happen again."

The appeals court decision comes after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the state's voter ID law in 2008, a week before the presidential primary, in a splintered 6-3 ruling. The League of Women Voters later challenged the law on state constitutional grounds.

The law passed in 2005 with the ardent support of Daniels and most other Republicans in state government.

Before the law passed, Indiana voters only had to sign poll books at a polling place, where photocopies of their signatures were kept on file for comparison.

Daniels said the matter will be appealed before the Indiana Supreme Court.

Indiana University School of Law professor Mike Pitts said it's anybody's guess what will happen there.

"I'm not sure that I would call any judicial decision preposterous. When you're operating on a clean slate, judges have some discretion," he said. "And we had three judges on the Court of Appeals today say that under the state constitution, photo identification is unconstitutional."