Opinion ID: 171428
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Application of the Burdick test

Text: Crawford confirmed that we must weigh the burdens imposed by a law affecting a person's right to vote against the justifications supporting the law. Crawford, 128 S.Ct. at 1616. Following Crawford, it appears that Justice Stevens's plurality opinion controls, a position advocated by the Plaintiffs in the present case because it is the narrowest majority position. Few commentators have analyzed the decision; however, some district court opinions analyzing similar laws have followed Justice Stevens's approach. For example, in Ray v. Texas, No. 2-06-CV-385, 2008 WL 3457021, at  (E.D.Tex. Aug. 7, 2008), the Eastern District of Texas upheld a Texas law regulating the use of witnesses who assist absentee voters in filling out absentee ballots. Interpreting Crawford as requiring specific proof of how a burden imposed by a regulation actually impacts a given class of voters, the court found that the Plaintiffs had no specific evidence indicating how the Texas law would negatively affect one's right to vote. Id. at . Because the Supreme Court in Crawford reaffirmed the right of a state to impose reasonable nondiscriminatory restrictions on a person's right to vote, the district court upheld the law. Id. at , ; see also Fla. State Conference of the NAACP v. Browning, 569 F.Supp.2d 1237, 1249-51 (N.D.Fla.2008) (applying the rationale of Justice Stevens's lead opinion in upholding a Florida law setting forth verification requirements for first time voters prior to voter registration).
The first prong of this test requires us to consider the alleged injury to the right to vote. Crawford, 128 S.Ct. at 1616. The district court restricted its Burdick analysis to the burdens imposed on similarly situated voters at polling locations and not the differing burdens imposed on in-person versus absentee voters. See Santillanes, 506 F.Supp.2d at 631. The court held that the bureaucratic hurdles entailed by the [Albuquerque amendment] may present a substantial obstacle in the path of Albuquerque voters even if they do not amount to a categorical ban on voting. Id. at 633. According to the district court, one of the most significant hurdles is the difficulty of obtaining valid photo identification for voting purposes, especially in the ten-day time period following a determination that a particular photo identification is deemed invalid. Id. at 635. The district court was further concerned that the City has not presented plans to inform voters of the new identification requirements, and that because the law only applies to municipal elections and not all elections, voters will be confused as to when the requirement is applicable. Id. at 635-36. In light of these concerns, the district court concluded that the Albuquerque amendment imposes a significant burden on the right to vote. Id. at 636. [2] Restrictions that are generally applicable, even-handed, politically neutral, and which protect the reliability and integrity of the election process are generally not considered severe restrictions and are upheld. Gonzalez v. Arizona, 485 F.3d 1041, 1049 (9th Cir.2007) (internal quotation marks omitted). Here, the provision is especially even-handed given the alternatives for acceptable photo identification. If a voter's particular form of photo identification is considered invalid, the voter may present another valid form of identification within ten days at the city clerk's office. The Albuquerque law provides an extensive list of examples of acceptable forms of identification, and in most cases a voter will likely have another form that will be considered acceptable. Furthermore, for those who cannot present a second form of photo identification, the individual can obtain photo identification free of charge from the city clerk's office. The district court was concerned with the City's failure to establish plans to inform voters of the new law, and determined that the law's application is confusing. The City argues that if the district court had not enjoined the City from enforcing the law, it would have had ample time to inform voters of the new photo identification requirement. Regardless, we think that the degree of voter education, particularly in the absence of any indication that any voters would be or were confused, cannot be an adequate ground to invalidate this provision-our task is not to mandate a perfect system-just one that meets constitutional requirements. And second, the law clearly states its application to all Albuquerque municipal elections, and nothing suggests that its application is any more confusing than the changing boundaries or precincts that often accompany elections and that voters must accommodate. Regardless, in Crawford, the Supreme Court concluded that the burdens imposed by a photo identification requirement did not substantially burden the right to vote. [A] voter may lose his photo identification, may have his wallet stolen on the way to the polls, or may not resemble the photo in the identification because he recently grew a beard. Burdens of that sort arising out of life's vagaries, however, are neither so serious nor so frequent as to raise any question about the constitutionality of [the photo identification requirement]. Crawford, 128 S.Ct. at 1620. The Indiana law also similarly provided for a provisional ballot alternative where a voter could then present valid identification following the election. Crawford, 128 S.Ct. at 1613-14. Consistent with Crawford, the types of burdens imposed by the Albuquerque law requiring photo identification arise out of life's vagaries but do not amount to a substantial burden on a person's right to vote.
We must balance the burdens imposed by the requirement against the justifications for the law. The City maintains that, consistent with the stated findings of the Albuquerque City Council, the photo identification requirement is intended to prevent voter fraud and in-person impersonation at polling locations. Aplt. Br. at 4; Aplt.App. 23-24. The district court concluded that this stated goal, alone, was insufficient and that the City had failed to meet its burden because it presented no evidence of voter fraud or voting irregularities among Albuquerque voters who vote in-person. Santillanes, 506 F.Supp.2d at 615. The district court concluded that the City must bear the burden of providing a reasoned explanation, supported by at least some admissible evidence, to show the [photo identification requirement] is tailored to advance an important governmental interest. Id. at 636. It noted that the City did not present any expert testimony concerning the existence of fraud in Albuquerque elections, nor did it present any evidence regarding other efforts to prevent voter fraud or to educate the electorate of the new identification requirements. Id. at 615. As a result, it held that the law was not adequately tailored to meet the City's interest in preventing voter impersonation fraud at the polls. Id. at 641. In requiring the City to present evidence of past instances of voting fraud, the district court imposed too high a burden on the City. Just as the Supreme Court did not require Indiana to present specific instances of past conduct to justify its photo identification requirement, we do not require Albuquerque to make such a showing. In Crawford, Indiana presented voter fraud as one of its justifications for its photo identification law, and the Court concluded that such a justification was sufficient. Crawford, 128 S.Ct. at 1617, 1623. The Court did not require any showing from Indiana regarding past instances of fraud. Instead, the Court relied on the existence of flagrant examples of such fraud in other parts of the country [that] have been documented throughout this Nation's history by respected historians and journalists. Id. at 1619. The resolution submitting this measure to a vote echoes those concerns. Aplt.App. 23. Prevention of voter fraud and voting impersonation as urged by the City are sufficient justifications for a photo identification requirement for local elections.