If passed, eligible voters who do not possess anything on a shortened list of approved forms of ID could lose their ability to participate in Louisiana’s elections.
WASHINGTON – On Friday, Fair Elections Center, joined by the Legal Defense Fund and Campaign Legal Center, submitted a letter to Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, asking him to veto SB 319. If signed, this legislation would impose unnecessary barriers to voting on Louisiana citizens who do not have one of the documents the bill newly requires in order to vote.
The bill would make it harder for Louisianans to vote in two key ways. First, it sharply limits what kinds of identification voters can use at the polls, replacing Louisiana’s current more flexible requirement with a narrow list of approved IDs that may be difficult for many people to obtain. Second, it eliminates a longstanding backup option that allows voters without an accepted ID to verify their identity by signed affidavit—leaving many eligible voters with no way to cast a ballot. By relying heavily on driver’s licenses and citizenship documents, and eliminating the affidavit option, the bill will make it particularly difficult for seniors, low-income voters, students, and people with disabilities to vote, and will likely have a disproportionate impact on Black voters, who make up 33 percent of Louisiana’s population.
“Louisiana voters should not lose access to the ballot just because they can’t provide documents that are entirely unnecessary to confirm their identity,” said Patrick Williamson, Counsel at Fair Elections Center. “For years, voters who lacked an accepted ID could still verify who they were through an affidavit process, but SB 319 eliminates that safeguard. Gov. Landry must veto this bill to avoid creating unnecessary barriers for eligible voters simply trying to make their voices heard on the issues that matter to them.”