Program to aid state's elderly, disabled with getting ID cards

~ The Revenue Department plans visits to nursing homes and centers by mid-October.

The Department of Revenue is gearing up to begin trips around the state to help the elderly and disabled obtain state identification cards to vote, as required under a new state law.

The agency said Thursday it has five visits tentatively scheduled, but plans could change. The first is slated for Milan in a week. Others are planned in Bethany, Harrisonville, Mexico and north St. Louis.

The law requires all voters to present a photo ID from the Missouri or federal government to cast a ballot starting in November. Those who don't already have a driver's license or other acceptable ID can get a free card from the local license office. More than 500 people statewide have already done so.

The law also requires revenue officials to bring mobile units to nursing homes and other centers to get cards to the elderly and disabled. About 96 percent of adult Missourians already have a license or ID card, the department said.

"We understand the importance of reaching out to the patrons of nursing homes and senior and disabled facilities," department director Trish Vincent said in a written statement. "We are using our available resources to make the November election as smooth as possible for them."

Revenue officials want to be sure residents have all the necessary paperwork to obtain an ID card before the vans head out.

The new law will also have no effect on absentee voting.

According to Cape Girardeau County Clerk Rodney Miller, voters who want to fill out absentee ballots to vote will still be able to do so.

Under an earlier law, residents must prove they are lawfully in the country to obtain or renew a driver's license or state ID card. That typically requires a birth certificate or passport and other documents.

Critics have noted that while the law requires the photo ID card for voting to be free, the documents needed to obtain one are not, and for some there are other hidden costs, such as time off work or bus fare to reach a license office.

Pending lawsuit

There's also another factor: Elected officials in St. Louis and Kansas City filed a lawsuit Monday seeking to stop the law from being implemented, claiming it violates the Missouri Constitution by not providing state money to local governments for their extra expenses to implement the ID requirement.

The Revenue Department hired Digimarc Corp. of Beaverton, Ore., to create the mobile ID card system. It's essentially a laptop in a briefcase with an electronic signature pad and a camera and screen to take photos.

Employees will collect the data and electronically transfer it from the nursing home to the department in Jefferson City, and the resulting ID card is mailed out and should take a week or so to receive, department spokeswoman Maura Browning said. The agency has received 19 ID system sets already and expects to have 25 in all. The units cost $19,450 each. The department also hired 16 temporary employees to handle the visits and can send out regular staff if needed.

The agency estimates it can process seven or so people per hour and could make several stops in one day, depending on the number of people needing IDs and distance between centers.

State officials have estimated that 170,000 to 190,000 voting-age Missourians lack a driver's license or state ID card. But not all those people vote, and those who vote by absentee ballot can continue to do so without meeting the new identification requirements, so exactly how many need an ID card is unclear.

The Revenue Department sent letters to 1,500 nursing homes and other centers for the elderly and disabled when Gov. Matt Blunt signed the bill in mid-June and has been calling them. So far, 272 facilities told the agency they don't need visits and an additional 429 aren't sure if they do.

The department expects to be done visiting nursing homes and centers by mid-October. The general election is Nov. 7.

Those who don't obtain the proper ID before Election Day can cast a provisional ballot, but they must present other ID or be known by two election judges.

Those ballots would be set aside to be evaluated later and would count only if the voters were in right polling place and election authorities can verify their identities.

In the November 2008 election and beyond, only the elderly, disabled and those with religious objections could cast a provisional ballot without the proper photo ID.

Southeast Missourian writer Kyle W. Morrison contributed to this report.