Detroit NAACP gets complaints over new ID requirement

Voter complaints over new ID requirement hit NAACP November 6, 2007 BY NIRAJ WARIKOO FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER The Detroit NAACP has received a number of complaints today from voters turned away at the polls because of a new photo ID requirement. About 40 voters have called into the local offices of the NAACP, said Melvin (Butch) Hollowell, general counsel for the civil rights organization. "The complaints started first thing this morning," Hollowell said. "Voters are angry and confused." Hollowell said the number of complaints is about 40% higher than the number of complaints usually received during presidential or gubernatorial elections, which draw higher numbers of voters. "It's really a mess," he said. The problem is that there was not any effort by the Secretary of State's office to make the public aware of the new requirement, Hollowell said. The Detroit NAACP, Michigan ACLU, and other groups filed a complaint earlier this year that challenges the photo ID requirement. Kelly Chesney, Secretary of State spokeswoman, said that "we have worked very hard to get the message out" about the photo ID requirement. And, she said, her office has not heard of major voter problems today. "We have not heard complaints from our local election officials that people are being turned away," she said. If a voter does not have a photo ID, they can sign an affadavit to vote, she said. Hollowell said his office got a call from a man turned away from voting because he didn't have an ID. Hollowell also said that at some voter locations, poll workers were given incorrect and outdated information from 2005 that mistakenly said voters should be given a provisional ballot if they sign any affadavit. Those ballots would usually not count, he said. Hollowell said that Detroit election officials have been contacted and are working to solve that problem.