Michigan Officials: Our Amish Should Be Able To Vote Without Photo ID

Some in Michigan are concerned that the Amish won’t be able to vote if the state adopts a photo ID requirement.

WWMT reports that a bill which “mirrors the federal SAVE America Act” has already been approved by the Michigan House.

But it doesn’t currently have the votes to pass in the Michigan Senate. It might get there, though – if the balance of power shifts following upcoming statewide elections.

Worth adding that WWMT doesn’t mention it, but a photo ID requirement could reach Michigan voters another way – a citizenship and voter ID proposal headed for the November ballot, pending final certification.

Either way, this has spurred efforts to create a photo-less ID option for Amish residents who wish to vote. The issue in a nutshell is that some, even many Amish have objections to personal photography, which makes getting a photo ID a non-starter.

However, from an Amish perspective, this is potentially about a lot more than just voting. More on that below.

Most Amish Don’t Vote, But Some Do

Voting, as we’ve covered before, is not something the Amish generally do in large numbers. Many feel it is better to pray for political leaders than to get involved in choosing them, a perspective which has roots in Two Kingdoms doctrine. However, some do vote, as there is not a blanket “ban” on voting among the Amish.

Michigan has a diverse Amish population, ranging from the most conservative Amish groups to some of the most progressive. And rather than this being a “Michigan Amish believe this” story, across the different communities, they’re going to look at this differently.

Some are not going to be interested in voting, so it’ll not be of much concern at least in that context. Others will be OK with getting a photo ID, so it won’t concern those people much.

But those two scenarios don’t cover all of the state’s 20,000+ Amish population. That’s ostensibly why some are seeking to help those Amish who want to vote – and do other things that require a photo ID – to do so.

The article quotes Van Buren County Sheriff Daniel Abbott, who they say has lobbied state lawmakers for a photo-free ID option for Amish residents: “They should have a voice in our community,” he says.

Van Buren County is home to two Amish settlements, with a population of about 300 total. Abbott also cites an example from a neighboring Amish-heavy state. From WWMT:

Abbott has lobbied state lawmakers in Lansing for a state-issued photo less ID for Amish residents, which he said would help them obtain official identification and make voting easier in general elections.

He said Amish residents have been seeking such an option for about a decade and pointed to other states that have created alternatives.

“They said they’ve been trying for about 10 years to get what’s called the photo less ID in place because they’ve done their research and different states have what’s call [sic] the photo less ID. And I’ll use Indiana for an example. There’s a thumb print on the card,” Abbott said.

Besides the sheriff’s efforts, a state lawmaker is involved:

Republican state Rep. Tom Kunse said he will be introducing legislation to allow photo less identification for Amish residents, particularly if the photo ID requirement for voting advances.

“My neighbors are literally Amish. Cletus and Rosetta. The Amish built our house!” Rep. Kunse said.

Kunse said the issue extends beyond elections and involves religious liberty and access to basic services.

“This is a deeply held religious belief. So, when they go to pick up medicine. When they go to check into a hotel room there are things that they cant do,” Kunse said.

The report is framed as the Amish doing the lobbying (see the titles on the video and article: “Michigan’s Amish lobby Lansing for ‘photo-less’ identification”), though it seems to me that it’s more outsiders doing lobbying on their behalf.

Input From An Amish Person

I don’t doubt that some Amish in the state would appreciate the photoless ID option. And WWMT did get input on it from an Amish person. Though, as hinted in the quote from Kunse, voting might not be the first thing those people have in mind:

Amish carpenter Jacob Petersheim said he, and others in his community, would support the legislation.

“There are quite a few people around here that I know would support it. Crossing the border, bank accounts, a lot of stuff like that is, I mean it’s just getting harder and harder to do that,” Petersheim said.

What’s interesting to me there (and I realize it’s just one quote) is that Petersheim doesn’t talk about voting here, but about these other, more practical activities.

Namely banking, and going outside the country – likely to Canada to visit other Amish communities, and possibly he means Mexico, a destination of some Amish for medical treatment. Another example: being able to purchase hunting rifles.

Representative Kunse hits on that point too in his quote, giving the examples of getting medicine from the pharmacy and even staying in a hotel.

So I suspect being able to freely do those more practical things is of greater concern to the average Amish person in the state, than is voting.

Also note that in the video version of this WWMT report (embedded at bottom) Petersheim says the following: “I haven’t voted ever and probably never will.”

However, it’s also worth adding here that, according to Michigan.gov’s voting information page, the state already has an alternative to the photo ID for voting – voters are able to sign an affidavit at the voting site, instead of presenting ID. This Amishman – and I suspect a lot of other Amish people in the state – has simply never done that.

How Many Amish People Does This Really Affect?

Everyone who wishes to legally vote should be able to, and accommodations made within reason.

But as it is framed on the top level – “Michigan’s Amish need photo IDs to vote” – this strikes me as a bit of a niche issue, since as mentioned earlier, not all Amish are against personal photography, for instance, for photo IDs.

I’d guess that “Amish who want to vote”, and “Amish who are OK with photo IDs”, apply to many of the same people.

However, there is probably a much larger group of Amish people who are not OK with photo IDs – but naturally still need to bank, fill out prescriptions, and so on. That’s what the quote from the Amishman reflects.

So I’d guess that more Amish who support this idea see the potential benefits in all these other daily life areas, than they do in being able to vote once every two-to-four years.

That noted, the framing of this effort is around the idea of “voting issue.” Voting rights have been a hot-button political topic for a long time, and are a matter that resonates across the political spectrum, due to the bigger-picture SAVE Act and related statewide legislation. That context also takes it beyond being just an “Amish issue”.

The video report closes by noting that the state legislature is expected to turn to this matter “early next year.”

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