North Dakota Senate Passes Tougher Voter ID Law

The North Dakota Senate today passed HB1332 on a 30-16 vote. The bill would toughen the state’s voter ID laws, requiring an ID to vote (or the ID of someone who is vouching for another voter). According to Democrats, this will disenfranchise legitimate elderly and minority voters to solve a non-existent problem. According to Republicans, the problem is only “non-existent” in so far as there’s really not a lot being done to detect voter fraud now, and even if there isn’t fraud now what’s the harm in protecting against fraud in the future?

Here’s video of the floor debate:

I thought the best comment came Senator Erbele who pointed out that voters have two years between general elections to get their ID situation squared away. The idea that this requirement is too onerous is a little ridiculous.