Governor Napolitano says she will sign the voting procedures manual as submitted by Secretary of State Jan Brewer and approved by Attorney General Terry Goddard.

New rules proposed Aug. 12 by Secretary of State Jan Brewer would generally require Arizona voters to show government-issued photo identification such as an up-to-date driver’s license or two other forms of specified types of non-photo identification in order to get a regular ballot at a polling place.

The rules would implement a Proposition 200 provision that supporters said would help prevent voter fraud. Proposition 200 is an immigration-related initiative approved by Arizona voters last November.

The Republican secretary of state’s rules, which include changes made in response to criticism of earlier versions, required approval by Attorney General Terry Goddard and Governor Napolitano, both Democrats.

Mrs. Brewer’s release of the rules caps months of legal and political jockeying over Proposition 200’s voter identification mandate.

“The people of Arizona supported showing an identification at the polls prior to receiving a ballot,” stated Mrs. Brewer in an Aug. 17 press release. “After several months of needless delay, I delivered on my commitment to finally get implemented what the voters called for.”

“Although there has been much public debate about the merits of identification at the polls over the last year, it is not our job as elected officials to second-guess the will of the voters,” Mrs. Brewer said earlier.

Mr. Goddard on Aug. 17 also released a statement and approval letter of the new voting procedures and identification requirements. In a 2-page letter, he clarified some of the ID rules detailed in Mrs. Brewer’s proposal.

After Ms. Napolitano signs the procedures and ID rules, Mr. Goddard will forward them to the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice for approval. Mr. Goddard is requesting an expedited review so local election officials could put the procedures in place for the November elections.

Changes made from previous versions include allowing American Indians to provide only one piece of non-photo identification to get a provisional ballot whose validity will be checked later before being counted.

Similarly, a voter who is on voting lists but whose driver’s license bears an outdated address also would get a provisional ballot that would be checked later before being counted.

Mr. Goddard had complained Aug. 12 that Ms. Brewer shut him out of the drafting process for the rules since a June 30 meeting and that she didn’t send the new version to him until an Aug. 12 news conference began.

Mrs. Brewer said she consulted county election officials, legislators and others in working on the rules and that she sent them to Mr. Goddard in the normal course of business. Mr. Goddard gets to approve the rule, not pre-approve it, she said.

Ms. Napolitano twice vetoed voter identification legislation earlier this year, complaining that it would have put roadblocks in front of citizens entitled to vote. —

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