Opinion ID: 1630936
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: SB 1014's Photo-ID Requirement requires time and ability to navigate bureaucracies in order to vote.

Text: Persons who wish to vote who do not already have the requisite photo IDs must arrange to obtain them by presenting a birth certificate or passport and, if necessary, proof of name changes. To do so requires both funds and advance planning to allow for the six to eight weeks that the record shows it takes to obtain a Missouri birth certificate (which is more time than exists between the date of this decision and the next general election). Once the birth certificate is in hand, the voter must use it to obtain one of the requisite photo IDs. This is plainly a cumbersome procedure. Harman v. Forssenius, 380 U.S. 528, 541 (1965) (holding that six-month advance registration to avoid poll tax unduly burdened the right to vote). Those things that require substantial planning in advance of an election to preserve the right to vote can tend to eliminate from the franchise a substantial number of voters who did not plan so far ahead. Id. at 539-40. [21] Evaluating a similar procedure mandated by the Georgia photo ID law (which was found to violate the federal constitution), a Georgia federal district court concluded that many voters who are elderly, disabled, or have certain physical or mental problems simply cannot navigate that process or any long waits successfully . Common Cause/Georgia, 439 F. Supp. 2d at 1347 . As it will require payment of money and significant advance planning to obtain necessary documentation, the Photo-ID Requirement is an onerous procedural requirement which effectively handicap[s] exercise of the franchise. Lane v. Wilson, 307 U.S. 268, 275 (1939) . [22] It is undisputed that between 3 and 4 percent of the population, some 169,000 to 240,000 Missourians, and each of the individual plaintiffs here, currently do not possess the type of photo ID required by SB 1014 to obtain a regular ballot to vote. This Court agrees with the trial court that the Photo-ID Requirement of SB 1014 represents a heavy and substantial burden on Missourians' free exercise of the right of suffrage.