Elections

Barack Obama votes early in Chicago, is asked to show ID [VIDEO]

Nicholas Ballasy Senior Video Reporter
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President Barack Obama was asked for photo identification before he could cast his ballot Thursday in Chicago.

Obama voted at 4:20 p.m. local time, “punching his choices into a touch-screen machine after signing forms and showing his driver’s license,” according to the White House press pool report.

“Now ignore the fact that there’s no gray hair on that picture,” he told the elections official. “I’m just glad I renewed my driver’s license.”

Obama also encouraged Americans to take advantage of early voting.

“For all of you who have not yet early voted, I just want everybody to see what an incredibly efficient process this was thanks to the outstanding folks who are at this particular polling place,” Obama said.

“This was really convenient,” he added, referring to the early voting process. “I can’t tell you who I voted for. But I very much appreciate everybody here. It’s good to be home back in the neighborhood.”

Obama and other Democrats — most notably, Attorney General Eric Holder and other Justice Department officials — have railed against voter ID laws, claiming they serve as barriers to minority voters’ participation in the electoral process. 

Obama’s Justice Department has sued several states for enacting voter ID laws like the one in place at his polling precinct. (RELATED VIDEO: Holder says DOJ blocking voter ID laws ‘not likely’ to make elections “susceptible to fraud”)

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