I take issue with the recent letter to the editor by Bonnie F. Saunders, president of the Arizona League of Women Voters, thanking the governor for vetoing the bills enacted by the Legislature to put into effect the identification at the polls requirement of Proposition 200. [Governor Thanked For Veto Of Voter ID Bill, Page 23, June 3 issue]

It surprises me that the president of an organization with a long history of defending the rights of voters and the citizens initiative process would take issue with the wishes of over one million voters who passed Proposition 200 into law last November.

Don’t be fooled by the rhetoric. This is not about an alleged federal right to vote without identification. The Department of Justice has said there is no such right. This is about the governor and other opponents of Proposition 200, including the League, imposing their will over that of the voters who clearly made their wishes known on this issue last November. To be clear, the League was the first group to file its letter in opposition to Proposition 200 that appeared in the publicity pamphlet, which was sent to every household with a registered voter prior to the November 2004 general election.

To set the record straight, the bills vetoed by the governor would not have required voters to present a “government-issued ID card” before voting. To the contrary, this legislation would have greatly expanded the type of ID that would allow voters into the polling place, including driver licenses, insurance cards, vehicle registrations, and the voter ID card issued to every registered voter by the county recorder at no cost. It is also clear that the U.S. attorney general agrees that the citizens of Arizona were well within their rights to establish an ID at the poll requirement without violating any federal voting law.

The League of Women Voters owes it to the public to be honest and to get the issue right. It needs to remember that its mission is to encourage the “active participation of citizens in government” and not to discourage participation by blocking the will of the voters who have spoken. I encourage the League to review the facts and rethink it’s position on ID at the polls.

Janice K. Brewer, Arizona Secretary of State