Voter ID: Howard was right (again!)

Indiana voters must produce a government-issued ID in order to vote today under Indiana's new Voter ID law. That law hit a snag early this morning:

Indiana's new voter-ID law had its first test Tuesday and ran into a snag moments after the polls opened when U.S. Rep. Julia Carson's congressional identification created confusion.

Carson's card does not have an expiration date as the new law requires of valid voter IDs, and Indianapolis poll workers tried to reach election officials before allowing the five-term Democratic congresswoman to cast her ballot shortly after her polling place opened at 6 a.m.

"The inspector just went ahead and made the decision that it was OK because he couldn't reach anybody to get authorization," Carson said later. And she reasoned the expiration date should not have been an issue: "It says for the 109th Congress, so that takes care of that."

Carson is a five-term congresswoman. But what if she was Julia Carson, private citizen? Would she still have been allowed to vote?

Just two weeks ago, Howard had this to say about Indiana's new law:

In a telephone interview, he dismissed Republicans’ claim that the requirement is needed to prevent voter fraud.

“These laws have appeared all over the country and they’re always put in by Republicans. And the truth is, there’s no reason for a law like this. In the history of the state of Indiana, there’s not one single case of a voter being prosecuted for impersonating somebody else.

“There’s only one reason for this law, and it’s nothing to do with honesty in voting.”

No, it sure doesn't.