Mo. elections official improperly asked for ID

She warns of potential problems though court struck down requirement

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updated 8:08 p.m. ET Nov. 6, 2006

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Missouri’s chief elections official said Monday she was asked for photo identification at the voting booth despite a court ruling striking down the requirement.

“I’m guessing this may be happening in other parts of the state,” warned Secretary of State Robin Carnahan, a Democrat who had opposed Republican efforts to mandate a photo ID in Missouri.

She said that a worker at the St. Louis Election Board asked her three times to show photo ID when she went to cast an absentee ballot Friday.

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Carnahan said that she tried to explain a photo ID was not necessary, but that the election worker replied that she was instructed to ask for one anyway. Carnahan said she eventually was allowed to vote without displaying a photo identification.

“To have that experience personally was very troubling,” she said.

The Missouri Supreme Court last month upheld a lower court’s ruling overturning a law that would have required voters to show a photo ID issued by the state or federal government.

Scott Leiendecker, the Republican director of the St. Louis Election Board, did not immediately return a call Monday.

Carnahan said she spoke with Leiendecker, who assured her that the identification requirements would be clarified and that voters on Election Day would not be pressed to present a photo ID.