Do Voter-ID Opponents Speak With Forked Tongues?

Last week, Hillary Clinton used a speech to the American Bar Association to rail against states that are requiring voters show a photo ID before they vote. She called ID requirements part of “the greatest hits of voter suppression,” but she was ignoring evidence that minority turnout has gone up in states with even the toughest ID laws, even in elections where Barack Obama isn’t on the ballot.

In Montana, the Chippewa Cree election board has gone so far as to invalidate a July tribal election for chairman because some people didn’t show the proper ID when they voted. But just last January, Native-American groups testified against a bill in the Montana legislature that would have toughened ID requirements for state elections. 

Remember when folks here in Montana and elsewhere talked about requiring an ID in order to vote?  Advocates were called nothing short of racist.  

So, if you want to require an official ID card to vote in the election for the US House or US Senate in Montana- you’re a racist.  

But, when it comes to tribal elections on at least one American Indian reservation here in Montana, if you want to vote- you better have your ID.  In fact, an election that took place just two weeks ago has now been invalidated because some people, even prisoners, had voted without the official ID card.        

Here’s more from the AP:

The Chippewa Cree election board has invalidated the results of a special election for chairman because some people were allowed to vote without an official identification card, the board’s attorney said Monday.

Chippewa Cree voters approved a law in November that requires an official tribal identification card to be presented before a person can cast a vote, and the July 30 special election was the first one since the new requirement was passed, said attorney Lynn Fagan of Missoula.

Poll workers allowed some people to vote without the proper identification, though it is not clear how many, Fagan said.

The Havre Daily News first reported the news:

In a letter to Ken Blatt St. Marks, the candidate who finished first in the elections, the board’s attorney, Lynn Fagan of Missoula, said the results were overturned because some people were allowed to vote with photocopied Certification of Indian Blood documents instead of laminated documents as required by the a law passed by voters in November. The Election Board allowed people to vote with the photocopied documents, but now admits its mistake, Fagan said in the letter.

On Election Day, St. Marks said, people were turned away if they did not have the proper documents and were told to go to the tribal office to get new ones. But the lamination machine at tribal headquarters had broken down, so they were given photocopied documents, he said.

That was the case for a number of prisoners at the Rocky Boy detention center, who cast ballots, Fagan said.

Of course, having an ID to vote in tribal elections is nothing new in the United States.  You may recall that earlier this year in North Dakota, Rob Port with SayAnythingBlog.com noted that Spirit Lake Tribal members were also required to have an ID card when voting in the tribal election back in May. 

PRIOR POST

Is Tribe Suppressing the Vote in North Dakota?