Last November, exactly 1,041,741 voters stated that they clearly want ID to be checked at the polls when voting. Unlike the governor, I took no position on Proposition 200 prior to the election, but now that the people have spoken, it is my job as Arizona’s chief election officer to see that their laws and election procedures are followed. It’s not my job, or the governor’s job, to second guess the voters or change what the voters passed into law.

Regardless of how you may feel about the new requirement to show an ID at the polls, it is wrong for Governor Napolitano to block the implementation of this law and force her will over that of 1 million lawful voters.

The governor has vetoed S1186, which would have put into practice the new election ID requirement as passed in Proposition 200. The bill also would’ve clarified and defined that a driver’s license, or vehicle registration, or several other forms of identification were all proper and acceptable ID to be checked when going to the polls, thus negating potential conflicts and confusion on election day.

Rather than being up front with voters and disclosing that she simply does not support what the people voted for, Governor Napolitano blocked what was passed and hides behind erroneous legal arguments, namely that an ID requirement is illegal (it isn’t) and will disenfranchise voters (it won’t).

Only in Arizona could a politician put such poorly reasoned spin on something as basic as showing an ID at the polls. Don’t we already show proper ID to buy liquor, to cash a check, or to get into a movie≠ So how is it disenfranchising someone to require the same standard to get into a polling place≠

Showing an ID at the polls has already been given full legal clearance by the U.S. Department of Justice, and was overwhelmingly passed into law when the question was put to the voters last November.

If the governor wants to change Proposition 200 and allow voters who don’t have ID to go ahead and vote a provisional ballot, then she should simply say so and pursue her own citizen initiative. Using the power of her office to block the will of over 1 million voters is in my mind, a highly questionable decision and simply wrong. —