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http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0508/Trouble_at_the_polls_in_West_Virginia.htmlTrouble at the polls in West Virginia?
A Democratic lawyer in West Virginia is raising questions about the Voter ID requirements being used by West Virginia election officials.
The lawyer, Mark Levine, provided Manual of Instruction for Election Officials (.pdf) given to a poll worker in Cabell County that appears to overstep state law, and outlaw some forms of identification that the statute permits.
The handbook (excerpted above) would require, among other forms of identification, "state issued photo ID." But the statute it cites refers only to a "a current and valid photo identification," and Levine -- a New York lawyer in the state independently, though he supports Obama -- says it could disenfranchise college students and workers using identification cards from their respective institutions.
The identification requirement only applies to new voters and voters who didn't register in person -- largely, if past patterns hold, younger voters and Obama supporters.
A spokesman for Secretary of State Betty Ireland, Sarah Bailey, said the manual wasn't one issued by her office. The Cabell County Clerk's office wasn't answering the phone this afternoon.
West Virginia Democratic Party Chairman Nick Casey said the state party doesn't have the resources to handle this issue in the primary.
"It sounds like the Secretary of State missed the mark," he said. "Once we get through the primary on Tuesday, we certainly might take a more aggressive tack going into the general."
By Ben Smith 05:31 PM
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