Martin v. Kohls: Voter ID

Victory! In 2014 the ACLU and the Arkansas Public Law Center filed suit in state court on behalf of voters challenging the Arkansas voter identification law passed in 2013. The suit said the law violated the Arkansas Constitution by impairing the right to vote and by adding to the voting qualifications already set out in the Constitution. People who had voted for twenty years in the same precinct and were known by election officials were turned away for lack of a picture ID. The court agreed with us and found the law unconstitutional. The Arkansas Supreme Court upheld the decision.

We know that Voter ID laws around the country are pernicious attempts to discourage certain segments of society from voting, people who traditionally lack state-issued identification—the poor, minorities, the elderly, and people with disabilities.