File photo of Supreme Court Justices Clark, Wade and Lee, via flickr
It could take months for Tennessee’s Supreme Court to rule on the legality of requiring a photo ID to vote, and whether a Memphis library card should count. Opponents of the law had hoped to overturn it before the election last fall, saying it disenfranchises voters. In court Wednesday a couple of the justices seemed to hint which way they’re leaning.
Defending the law was Janet Kleinfelter, whom Justice Cornelia Clark tested early on. Clark asked whether her 82-year-old mother might have a hard time getting a required ID to vote.
Kleinfelter answered: “Your 82-year-old mother can vote by absentee ballot.” To that, another justice asked “Why should there be a different standard for absentee voters?”
Moments later a third justice seemed to back Kleinfelter, “You’re not saying there’s no burden; you’re saying there’s no unconstitutional burden.”
After that attorney George Barrett argued to overturn the law, calling it a solution looking for a problem, and citing scant evidence of electoral fraud. At that point Justice Sharon Lee, who had seemed sympathetic at times, answered it was an argument for state lawmakers, not the court.
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