Constitutional Problems for Minnesota Voter ID

A revised estimate of the costs, savings, revenue gains, and losses projected for Minnesota’s voter ID bill, SF509, fails to adequately account for the costs of the legislation required by the courts. If the legislation is to be constitutional, the estimate–called a fiscal note–must include additional costs for public education and providing the free ID to individuals.

The courts have repeatedly required that states adopt expensive measures to mitigate the burdensome effects that voter ID mandates have on seniors, students and the poor. If legislators fail to account for these costs, this legislation will be held unconstitutional by the courts.

Courts in Georgia, Missouri, and New Mexico have all rejected voter ID mandates as unconstitutional because they failed to properly inform voters of the new mandate. Earlier this year, the Brennan Center for Justice released a report highlighting the constitutional mandates of voter ID mandates.

The revised fiscal note keeps the cost of obtaining a free ID to the state at $1 million.  Unfortunately, the revised fiscal note still grossly underestimates the true cost because more than 15,000 people will need a free ID.  In the first three years of implementing its voter ID mandate, the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles issued 771,017 free photo ID’s, at a cost of $10 million.  Common Cause estimates that it would cost Minnesota $3.9 million to pay for free ID cards.

Minnesota’s mandate was modeled on that of Indiana, but that state experienced a significant demand for free ID’s.  From 2007-2010,  the state had to spend more than $10 million to provide the IDs, significantly more money than the state had budgeted for.

In addition, the fiscal note does not take into account the cost of a lengthy and expensive legal battle that this legislation would face if it is passed.

Read our full report, The High Cost of Voter ID Mandates