Democrats win voter ID fight in New Mexico

SANTA FE, N.M., Sept. 29 (UPI) -- Only new voters who registered by mail will be required to show identification when they vote in New Mexico under a court ruling.

The 4-1 decision Tuesday by the New Mexico Supreme Court means thousands of new voters signed up in registration drives across the state will not have to show ID.

The court concluded the Legislature "intended to require identification only for first-time registrants who register by mail," a brief court order stated.

Attorney General Patricia Madrid, a Democrat, praised the decision she said would ensure every vote counts and no voter is turned away. Republicans, who brought the lawsuit, disputed the court's interpretation of the state law.

At least a dozen groups have been signing up new voters in New Mexico registration drives, some of them aimed at Hispanics and American Indians. Questions have been raised about 3,000 voter registrations in Albuquerque.

In 2000, President George W. Bush lost New Mexico's five electoral votes by 366 votes. The state has been visited often by Bush and Democratic challenger John Kerry this year.