Justice Dept. clears Virginia's "less strict" voter ID law
/The Department of Justice has cleared Virginia's new voter ID law to take effect for the November election. The new law -- labeled a "strict non-photo identification law" by the National Conference of State Legislatures -- expands the range of acceptable forms of identification, including some non-photo forms of ID. However, the law eliminates the option for voters to sign an affidavit if they do not have adequate ID -- now, if voters don't have a correct form of ID they can cast a provisional ballot and must show an ID at their local election office by noon on the third day after the election, or their vote will not be counted.
Voting laws in a handful of states -- including Virginia -- must be precleared by the Justice Department under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.
