Opinion ID: 171428
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The law properly distinguishes between in-person and absentee voters

Text: The City first argues that the law properly distinguishes between in-person and absentee voters. Although the district court ostensibly restricted its equal protection analysis to the treatment among in-person voters, 506 F.Supp.2d at 631, it also found that the risk of impersonation was far greater with absentee voting procedures and that tended to undermine the City's rationale for the measure, id. at 639. Plaintiffs contend on appeal that the Albuquerque law creates an arbitrary distinction between in-person and absentee voters by only requiring in-person voters to present photo identification. They argue that because any registered voter in Albuquerque may choose to vote absentee, N.M. Stat. § 3-9-3(A) (1999), unlike Indiana where only certain classes of individuals are eligible to vote absentee, there is greater opportunity for mischief creating a greater need to treat all voters alike. Aplee. Supp. Br. at 7. Further, Plaintiffs argue that absentee voters who ultimately present their ballots in-person will not be subject to the photo identification requirement. Aplee. Supp. Br. at 8. Plaintiffs claim that such different treatment of absentee persons who vote in-person from non-absentee in-person voters is without justification. We must disagree. Absentee voting is a fundamentally different process from in-person voting, and is governed by procedures entirely distinct from in-person voting procedures. See Ind. Democratic Party v. Rokita, 458 F.Supp.2d 775, 830-31 (S.D.Ind.2006) (absentee voting is an inherently different procedure from in-person voting), aff'd sub nom. Crawford v. Marion County Election Bd., 472 F.3d 949 (7th Cir.2007), aff'd, ___ U.S. ___, 128 S.Ct. 1610, 170 L.Ed.2d 574 (2008). Although the district court distinguished Rokita on the basis that Indiana law was more restrictive on who was eligible to vote absentee, the fact remains that nothing suggests that absentee ballot fraud would be limited by a photo-identification requirement that applied to absentee voting. See Crawford, 472 F.3d at 954. As the City argues, [w]hile requiring absentee voters to enclose a copy of photo identification with their ballots would provide election officials with a trustworthy source to establish a link with the name of the registered voter, the absence of a person standing before election officials precludes linking the enclosed identification with the person actually casting the ballot. Aplt. Br. at 12-13. Furthermore, the unique procedures for absentee voting allow for a separate process confirming the identification of a voter. See, e.g., N.M. Stat. § 3-9-4 (2003) (requiring an absentee voter to fill out an application with personal identification information). Because all registered voters in Albuquerque have the option of voting in-person or by absentee ballot, voters may choose which set of procedures to follow. Thus we are unpersuaded by Plaintiffs' argument that the law treats absentee voters who ultimately cast their ballot in-person differently than non-absentee in-person voters. Aplee. Supp. Br. at 8. The law clearly applies to all in-person voters at polling locations, and therefore we read the law to require any person, including a voter who applied for an absentee ballot but later votes in-person due to not receiving an absentee ballot, to present photo identification. Further, individuals who obtained an absentee ballot and merely arrive in-person to drop off the ballot at the city clerk's office have already subjected themselves to the separate absentee voter procedures necessary to confirm the voter's identification. Additionally, we recognize that states have wide latitude in determining how to manage election procedures. See Buckley v. Am. Constitutional Law Found., Inc., 525 U.S. 182, 191, 119 S.Ct. 636, 142 L.Ed.2d 599 (1999) (States ... have considerable leeway to protect the integrity and reliability of ... election processes generally.). States may also take reform one step at a time, and need not cover every evil that might conceivably [be] attacked. McDonald v. Chicago Bd. of Election Comm'rs, 394 U.S. 802, 809, 89 S.Ct. 1404, 22 L.Ed.2d 739 (1969) (internal quotation marks omitted). The Albuquerque law is intended to target in-person voters and not all voters, and because there are clear differences between the two types of voting procedures, the law's distinction is proper.