(AP) – The Arkansas House has approved a plan to reinstate a
voter ID law that was struck down more than two years ago, with Republicans counting on a mostly new state Supreme Court to uphold the measure.
The majority-Republican House voted 74-12 Tuesday, for House Bill 1047, to require voters to show photo identification before casting a ballot, easily clearing the two-thirds vote needed to advance. The measure now heads to the majority-GOP Senate.
All local Republican State Representatives were in favor of the measure including District 83’s David Branscum, District 99’s Jack Fortner, District 62’s Michelle Gray, District 64’s John Payton and District 100’s Nelda Speaks.
The only local State Representative opposed was District 61’s Democrat, Scott Baltz.
The Arkansas Supreme Court unanimously struck down the law in 2014, with the majority of justices ruling it unconstitutionally added a new qualification for voting. The latest proposal is aimed at addressing a concern three of the court’s seven justices raised that the prohibition didn’t pass with enough votes in the Legislature when it was enacted in 2013.
The proposal will need two-thirds support in both chambers, a threshold it easily cleared in the House.
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