LOS ANGELES, CA --The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) issued the following statement following yesterday’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold Indiana’s voter identification (ID) law:

“We are extremely disappointed in yesterday’s 6-3 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold Indiana’s restrictive law requiring voters to present government-issued photo ID.  This ruling will have a particularly detrimental impact on Latino access to the electoral process in Indiana, as well as in other states that will now be encouraged to adopt similar requirements.

We have consistently opposed voter ID requirements, even before Congress enacted the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA), because we were concerned that they would create new obstacles for Latino participation in the electoral process.  However, HAVA’s requirements are somewhat narrowly-drawn – they apply to only one segment of the voting population (generally, first-time voters who register by mail), and when jurisdictions have implemented HAVA-compliant statewide databases, most voters will undergo a verification that will eliminate any need for them to show ID at their polling places.  However, Indiana’s voter ID law goes well beyond HAVA.

We believe that Voter ID provisions that go beyond the scope of those included in HAVA are unnecessary and will create new barriers for the participation of Latinos and other population groups in the electoral process.  Accordingly, we encourage state and federal legislators to guard Americans’ right to vote by rejecting any law containing Voter ID provisions exceeding those mandated by HAVA.

Through our efforts in the ya es hora ¡Ve Y Vota!  campaign, we have learned that Latino voters face challenges in obtaining basic information that they need about the voting process and requirements.  Restrictive ID requirements will add another obstacle to the voting process.  There is also a significant risk that pollworkers or election officials will arbitrarily use these types of requirements to prevent Latino voter participation.  Through our 1-888-VE-Y-VOTA biligual voter information hotline, we have received reports from Latino voters of rude or unhelpful treatment by pollworkers, particularly from voters who need language assistance at the polling place.  In addition, such requirements are particularly tough for groups like Latinos, who are a relatively mobile population.

Based on the incredible surge of voter registration applications during this presidential primary season, it is clear that Latinos and other underrepresented groups are eager to participate in the electoral process and become active participants in our nation’s democracy.  We should encourage this heightened engagement, as opposed to creating barriers which greatly increase the risk that eligible voters will be denied the right to vote.”