Missouri: poor need not apply
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports: With about 14 weeks left before the Nov. 7 election, officials charged with publicizing and providing the new government-issued photo IDs face a daunting task:
Of the roughly 170,000 Missouri voters who lack such identification, only 629 have gotten the free state-issued cards in the six weeks since Gov. Matt Blunt signed the new mandate into law.
Trish Vincent, head of the state Department of Revenue, said Tuesday it will be another week or so before her agency's workers begin traveling the state with mobile units to visit facilities for the elderly and disabled. The units will collect the necessary information and take photographs, but they won't be able to issue the cards on site. They will be mailed out within two days from Jefferson City, a spokeswoman said.
Vincent also emphasized that her department will not be using the units to go into low-income areas to help the poor obtain the voter identification cards.
"The law is clear," she said. "We are to work with older folks, the seniors and the disabled, not the low-income." ...
The law stipulates that the state provide free nondriver identification cards for those who need them to vote. But some of the documents needed to get the cards - such as a birth certificate or passport - cost money to obtain. A Missouri-issued birth certificate costs $15. -- STLtoday - News - St. Louis City / County