Councilor joins voter ID effort.(Evening)

Byline: Ed Asher EASHER@ABQTRIB.COM 823-3602

City Councilor Greg Payne has taken up the cause of requiring voters to present an ID at the polls.

A petition drive by the all-volunteer ABQ Voter ID Initiative Group failed to come up with the 20,000 signatures needed to get the issue on this fall's city election ballot.

So Payne has drafted a bill that would do the same thing. It will be introduced at the next City Council meeting Aug. 4.

"You can't drive a car without an ID. You can't rent a video or cash a check or board a plane without an ID," Payne said Thursday.

"So what's the objection to requiring some sort of ID in order to …