BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Indiana’s voter identification law differs from recently overturned laws in other states that legal experts say have caused disenfranchisement among minorities.
The (Bloomington) Herald-Times reports that the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Indiana’s law in the 2008 decision in Crawford v. Marion County Election Board, inspiring more strict laws that federal courts have struck down.
Beth Cate, an associate professor at IU’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs, says the recent cases show that Congress needs to enact new standards to rein in states that would enact laws disproportionately affecting ethnic and racial minorities.
Michael Pitts, a professor of law and a dean’s fellow at Indiana University’s Robert H. McKinney School of Law in Indianapolis, says the state’s voter ID law provides ways to get around showing photo identification.