The U.S. Supreme Court has announced it will rule on whether or not photo identification can be required to vote. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey conducted during Election 2006 found that 77% of likely voters across the country believe that displaying a photo ID should be required to cast a vote. A Georgia survey conducted last week found that 84% of the state’s voters agree.

The Supreme Court will rule on an Indiana case and consider a state law that was upheld by the Appeals Court. The 2005 law has been challenged by lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union and the Indiana Democratic Party. Some claim that requiring a photo ID to vote places an unfair burden on the elderly, poor, disabled and homeless.

Requirements for showing a photo ID to vote are among the most politically popular of reforms considered since the Florida debacle during Election 2000.

Democrats and liberals are a bit supportive of the requirement than others.

Voters have long held doubts about the fairness of elections. The Election 2006 survey found that 48% believe elections are fair to voters while 37% disagree and say they are not. Seventy percent (70%) of Republicans say elections are fair, a view shared by only 31% of Democrats and 43% of unaffiliated voters.

Over the years that Rasmussen Reports has polled on this question, the percentage of voters who say elections are fair has usually been in the high 40s. During Election 2004, it moved up to 54%. Democrats were more likely to say elections were fair when Bill Clinton was President. Republicans are more likely to say they are fair with a Republican in the White House.

The Election 2006 survey also found that 68% believe say that the text of election ballots should be English-only. Twenty-nine percent (29%) say ballots should be posted in both English and Spanish. About three quarters or more of Republicans, unaffiliated voters, conservatives and moderates agree with an English-only requirement; only 54% of Democrats and 55% of liberals also agree.