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Legislators agree on bill to require voter IDs

BY DION LEFLER

Eagle Topeka bureau

TOPEKA - Senate and House negotiators reached a tentative compromise Friday on a bill to require voters to show photo identification at the polls.

Senators on the conference committee agreed to many of the conditions the House had placed on the bill in an effort to ally representatives' fears that requiring photo ID could disenfranchise citizens.

Under the agreement, the state would provide free ID's to low-income people and welfare recipients.

The Senate didn't include that in its version of the ID bill. It was added to comply with a recent Supreme Court decision.

The high court upheld Indiana's voter ID law, but justices made a point to say that requiring people to pay for a voter ID would be an unconstitutional poll tax.

At the request of Rep. Tom Sawyer, D-Wichita, conferees agreed to put off enforcement of the ID requirement until 2010.

The 2008 elections would be a dress rehearsal.

Voters would be asked to show ID. If they couldn't, they'd still be allowed to vote and presented with a flier telling them how to obtain an identification card.

Conferees also acceded to a request by Sawyer to leave mail-in absentee voting the way it is for now.

Five committee members agreed to have legislative revisers draft the final bill.

Supporters of photo ID say they think it's necessary to prevent voting fraud, particularly by illegal immigrants.

Sawyer opposes the concept but worked on the conference committee to soften the bill.

Conferee Sen. Donald Betts, D-Wichita, who missed Friday's committee meeting, said he has not decided whether to sign off on the compromise plan.

He said he likes Sawyer's changes but doesn't think proponents have adequately demonstrated a need for photo ID to vote. There are no documented instances of voter impersonation on record in Kansas.

But the other five members of the conference committee directed the reviser's office to draft two versions so it can advance to floor votes with or without Betts' signature.

Reach Dion Lefler at 785-296-3006.