Carnahan, Blunt at odds on voter ID

Published Thursday, June 1, 2006

JEFFERSON CITY (AP) - Secretary of State Robin Carnahan wants Gov. Matt Blunt to call a special legislative session to allocate money for implementing a voter identification bill - a suggestion quickly dismissed by Blunt.

Blunt has said he plans to sign the measure, which will require voters to show a Missouri or federal government-issued photo ID to cast a ballot starting in November.

Among other things, the bill requires the secretary of state’s office to publicize the requirement and the Department of Revenue to go around to nursing homes and elsewhere to help people lacking a state ID card to obtain a free one to vote.

Carnahan, a Democrat, sent a letter to the Republican governor yesterday asking him to call a special session so lawmakers can set aside funding to meet the bill’s requirements. Blunt spokesman Spence Jackson said the governor does not plan to call a special session.

Supporters say the expenses either could be absorbed from existing budgets or provided for next year. Lawmakers pass a budget bill every year to cover unexpected costs that have arisen since the annual budget was adopted months earlier.

Carnahan said providing funds through a supplemental budget next year isn’t good enough. She estimated her office’s cost at $3.5 million, which she said is more than its entire expense budget, so other office duties would suffer as a result.

Carnahan’s office estimates about 170,000 Missourians lack a state driver’s license or ID card. Revenue officials estimate that about 75,000 people would want ID cards to vote.

"It is vital for these efforts to be adequately funded," Carnahan wrote. "Failure to do so, or making only a halfhearted effort, not only jeopardizes the integrity of our elections, but also puts the constitutional voting rights of up to 170,000 legitimate Missouri voters - primarily seniors, disabled and poor - at risk."

Jackson questioned Carnahan’s opposition to the ID requirement.

"It’s clear that Robin Carnahan prefers anarchy to order when it comes to election laws," he said.

During debate on the measure, Democrats argued the Republican-led administration was vastly underestimating the cost of implementing the legislation, a claim supporters rejected.

The financial summary prepared with the final legislation estimated the cost at about $7.4 million in state and local funds in the first year.

Carnahan has said it’s more like $22 million.