Linn supervisors likely to sit out voter-ID debate

Linn County supervisors came down firmly in favor of not taking sides in the debate over requiring voters to show photo identification.

“I think we ought to stay neutral,” District 4 Supervisor Brent Oleson, R-Marion, said during this morning's board session. “We're not the ones who are going to decide it.”

“Until we have a little more information, I'm inclined to remain neutral,” agreed District 2 Supervisor Linda Langston, D-Cedar Rapids.

With the county seeking a major change in state tax policy to fund flood protection, Oleson and the other supervisors are reluctant to take sides in the debate. County Auditor Joel Miller, whose office administers elections, asked for time on today's agenda to discuss the issue.

“I don't want to lobby one way and find out that you're lobbying the other way,” said Miller.

On Jan. 27, the state House passed a bill requiring voters to show a photo ID on a straight 60-40 party-line vote, with Republicans in the majority. Miller expects the measure to die in the Democratically-controlled Senate, but “I think it's going to be a bargaining chip before the Legislature adjourns.”

Miller, a Democrat, noted Matt Schultz, Iowa's new Secretary of State, made the requirement a top campaign issue – “about his only issue.”

Whatever state lawmakers decide, Langston said she hopes the concerns of college students are addressed. Students at Coe College and Kirkwood Community College were turned away from the polls last November because they couldn't provide the ID required for same-day registration.

“I talked to some students who were just furious,” she said. “What a horrid thing for an 18-year-old to start out for their voting experience.”