April 28 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Supreme Court gave Republicans an election-year victory, ruling in an Indiana case that states can require photo identification from voters to combat fraud.
The court, voting 6-3, rejected Democratic contentions that the Indiana law will impose an unconstitutional burden on voters, particularly the elderly and poor. The Indiana measure, which will be in effect for the state's presidential primary on May 6, is by some accounts the nation's strictest voter-ID law.
Writing the court's lead opinion, Justice John Paul Stevens said the risk of voter fraud is ``real'' and that fraud ``could affect the outcome of a close election.'' States, he said, have a ``valid interest in protecting the integrity and reliability of the electoral process.''
The ruling bolsters laws in dozens of states and may make it harder for some voters to cast ballots in the November elections. The decision doesn't preclude the possibility that voters could launch narrower challenges to particular applications of the Indiana law or other statutes around the country.
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