Sec. of State Brewer Successful in Gaining ID at Polls

Approval Attorney General and Governor Comply With Voter Mandate That Everyone Present ID at Polls

PHOENIX -- Secretary of State Jan Brewer today expressed her enthusiasm over news that Attorney General Goddard and Governor Napolitano have approved the latest election procedure for identification at the polls as crafted by the Secretary of State's office. Upon preclearance by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), this final requirement of Proposition 200 as mandated by the voters last year, will be implemented.

“The people of Arizona supported showing an identification at the polls prior to receiving a ballot,” stated Secretary Brewer, “after several months of needless delay, I delivered on my commitment to finally get implemented what the voters called for.”

The final procedure approved by the Governor and Attorney General was in sharp contrast to their position last Spring where they insisted on allowing voters without identification to cast a provisional ballot. In her veto message of SB 1118 last April, Governor Napolitano refused to sign the ID requirement into law because it did not, “allow any person to cast a provisional ballot, regardless of whether they have identification with them…”

In the end, both Secretary of State Brewer and the U.S. Department of Justice disagreed with the Governor and Attorney General. The final procedure approved today makes clear that all voters must produce identification at the polls in order to receive a ballot. Requirements of the procedure include:

Voters who produce no ID will not be provided a ballot and will be instructed to return with appropriate ID.

Voters whose name or address on the ID do not correspond to the information contained in the polling place roster, will be provided a provisional ballot, which will be verified by the county recorder before being counted.

Voters who are in their correct polling place but whose names do not appear on the polling place roster will be provided a provisional ballot, provided they first produce the proper ID.

Substantial publicity to educate voters on the new identification requirement will be undertaken by the State and County election departments.

“It is now incumbent on all election officials, upon final preclearance by DOJ, to take every step possible to inform Arizona voters of this new requirement prior to the upcoming elections,” added Brewer, “I am pleased that the will of the voters is finally going to be implemented and I look forward to working with the counties on properly educating poll workers and the voters as well.”

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