Donna Jenni, Orange County’s voter registrar, visited the LOW Democratic Club Sept. 18 to explain the intricacies of Virginia’s new requirement for voters to show a photo identification card in order to vote.
“We didn’t make the law, but we have to implement it,” Jenni said. “I feel that we should interpret the law as loosely as possible. We want people who are eligible to vote to vote.”
The law, which went into effect July 1, 2014, requires registered voters to produce one of the following types of identification at their polling places before they cast their ballots:
- A valid Virginia driver’s license
- A. DMV-issued photo identification card
- A valid U.S. passport
- A valid employee photo identification card
- Other government-issued photo identification card
- A valid college or university student photo identification card from a institution of higher education located in Virginia
Registered voters who do not have an acceptable form of identification can contact the Orange County Registrar’s Office for a photo I.D. free of charge, Jenni said.
Virginia’s Republican-controlled legislature passed the new restrictions, claiming it is intended to curb voter fraud. Democrats complained that the law is a thinly veiled attempt to suppress voting among minorities and others who tend to vote Democratic.
Jenni was careful to make no comment on the politics surrounding the issue, but she said in response to a question that she is not aware of a single case of voter fraud in Orange County during her tenure here.
“It’s not clear to anyone exactly what the impact of the new requirements will be,” Jenni said.
She said no registered voter will be turned away from the polls on election day. Those who cannot meet the identification requirement will be allowed to cast a provisional ballot. If they can produce a valid identification at her office by noon on the Friday after the Nov. 4 election, their ballot will be counted.
Jenni said demand for the new photo I.D.s issued by her office has not been high. She said only four have been issued so far.
Jenni also explained that the ballot for the Nov. 4 election will be unusual in that candidates for the congressional seat will be listed twice on the ballot — once for a special election in which a candidate will be selected to fill the vacancy left when Rep. Eric Cantor resigned in July and once for the general election for the same seat for the term that begins in January 2015. This means that voters who support Jack Trammell for Congress must vote for him twice!
Janni said there are about 22,500 registered voters in Orange County eligible for the Nov. 4 election.