GOP-backed bill seeks mandatory voter ID

Associated Press
Dustin Kass
Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Minnesota voters will need to show photo identification at the polls under legislation proposed Monday, a bill with more than 30 Republican co-sponsors including Reps. Greg Davids and Steve Drazkowski.

Residents will have to present a Minnesota driver’s license, state-issued identification card or tribal identification card when casting ballots in the 2012 general election, according to the bill authored by Rep. Mary Kiffmeyer, R-Big Lake.

Those who arrive at the polls without those documents could cast provisional ballots that would only be counted if the residents later produced photo identification, the bill states.

Nearly three dozen Republican representatives, including House Speaker Kurt Zellers, have signed onto the bill, which supporters say will eliminate voter fraud and preserve the sanctity of the election process. No DFL representatives have signed on as co-authors.

“I want to stop election fraud,â€