Reply #5: Indiana Court of Appeals:

[JTFrog]

http://www.indystar.com/article/20090917/NEWS05/909170487/Court+knocks+out+state+voter+ID+law

The Indiana Court of Appeals today declared Indiana's voter ID law unconstitutional because it does not apply uniformly to all voters. The three-judge panel unanimously held that the requirement that voters present government-issued photo identification at the polls runs afoul of the Indiana Constitution's "Equal Privileges and Immunities Clause," which provides: "The General Assembly shall not grant to any citizen, or class of citizens, privileges or immunities which, upon the same terms, shall not equally belong to all citizens."

Two reasons were cited by the Court of Appeals: the law doesn't require absentee voters to provide an affidavit affirming their identity even while requiring photo identification for in-person voters; and the law exempts residents of state-licensed care facilities from the ID requirement if their facility happens to be a polling place.

The challenge was brought by the League of Women Voters, based on state constitutional claims, after the U.S. Supreme Court previously upheld the law. Because the newer lawsuit deals only with state-based claims, the U.S. Supreme Court cannot review today's ruling.

Instead, Indiana officials can ask the Indiana Supreme Court to review the ruling. But for now, the Court of Appeals' decision orders Marion Superior Court, which had ruled against the League of Women Voters, to declare the voter ID law void.