Utah House: Medicare card won't be valid voter ID

Older voters in Utah won't be allowed to use their Medicare cards as a valid form of identification at the ballot box because state lawmakers fear illegal immigrants would use them to vote. The Utah House voted down a measure Thursday 47-27 that would have carved out an exception in state law that requires a picture ID to vote. Current forms of acceptable identification include a valid Utah driver's license, U.S. passport, tribal identification card and concealed weapons permit. Two forms showing the voter's name and proof of address can also be used. Rep. Marie Poulson, a Cottonwood Heights Democrat who sponsored House Bill 79, said many older voters don't have driver's licenses or other necessary documents. The AARP backed the measure and supporters said the state's oldest residents are having their basic constitutional rights denied to them. Lawmakers shouldn't be putting in place inconveniences for voters who don't have access to transportation to get state-issued Ids or those who live in nursing homes where residents don't have utility bills as a proof of residency, they said. "I think it's an age discrimination issue," said Rep. Carol Spackman Moss, D-Holladay.