Ala. Secretary of State defends voter photo ID law

BIRMINGHAM, AL (WBRC) - Secretary of State John Merrill is defending Alabama's voter identification law which requires a photo ID at the polls.

North Carolina's law is one of the latest to be struck down in federal court where judges called the law discriminatory. There's a similar lawsuit against Alabama.

The NAACP and Greater Birmingham Ministries filed the lawsuit in 2015 and it's set to go to trial in Birmingham federal court next year. The lawsuit says a voter impersonating another voter at the polls is extremely rare in this state. The plaintiffs believe requiring a photo ID is racially discriminatory, aimed at keeping minorities from voting.

Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill thinks Alabama's law will remain on the books. Merrill says since the photo ID law went into effect in 2013 his office has done a lot to ensure every registered voter gets a photo ID, if they're unable to get to a courthouse.

"If they can't make it out to mobile units, we will go to their home and we'll produce a photo ID for them," said Merrill. "No other state in the union is doing what we're doing. Nobody. So if it's overturned it's because they're saying we just don't want any ID to be used when people are voting and think that will be a very sad statement."

Merrill says the law is intended to make it easy to vote in Alabama, but hard to cheat. He says during the March 1st primaries a record 1.25 million people voted in Alabama, which he says is proof the law is not preventing people from casting a vote.

Click here to find out when the mobile voter ID unit will be near you.

Click here to read the Voter ID Law Guide, that can answer many common questions.

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