McDermott pushes for ID’ing at polls

BostonHerald.com - Local Politics: Pol pushes for ID'ing at polls: "Two weeks before Election Day, a Boston city councilor says it's time for voters to start flashing identification at Hub polls.
"I think we should have ID checks to maintain the integrity," said Allston-Brighton City Councilor Jerry P. McDermott.
McDermott said he plans to ask the City Council this week to hold a hearing with city and state election officials about what is being done to ensure that only legal citizens vote at Hub polling places.
Under federal law, poll workers are authorized to ask voters for identification only if it's their first time voting and they didn't already present ID when they registered to vote. No Bay State municipality has local rules requiring poll workers ask for ID when they show up to vote, said Brian McNiff, a spokesman for Secretary of State William Galvin."

Across the country people are discussing the pros and cons of requiring people to present ID in order to vote. Here are some thoughts on the issue:

The Century Foundation: there is no reason for states to go beyond the Help American Vote Act's narrow provisions regarding the presentation of identification in order to vote.
National Voting Rights Institute: The "Federal Election Integrity Act of 2006" (H.R. 4844), sponsored by Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL), would require all voters to obtain and show government-issued photo ID proving their citizenship before they could vote. In the vast majority of states, drivers’ licenses do not currently require proof of citizenship and thus would not meet the ID requirements of H.R. 4844. So what this would mean in practice is that voters who do not bring to the polls a photo ID that verifies their citizenship – such as a passport – could not vote.
Mo. High Court Strikes Down Voter ID Law: The Missouri Supreme Court struck down the state's new voter identification law Monday that would have required voters to show a photo ID card at the polls starting this fall.

Allston and Brighton, which are represented by McDermott perennially have the lowest voter turnout in Boston. This would be a natural position from which to make it easier for more people to vote instead of creating new rules to make it harder without proof that these new rules are needed.