Obama Campaign Checks IDs At The Door

Not at the polls.

Image by JEWEL SAMAD / Getty Images

CLEVELAND — President Barack Obama’s presidential campaign checked the identification of the supporters attending Obama’s “framing” event at Cuyahoga Community College today.

The 1,500 supporters in attendance picked up tickets at campaign offices in Northeast Ohio beginning on Monday, though tickets to the event made no mention of an ID requirement.

Jessica Kershaw, the Obama campaign’s Ohio Press Secretary, confirmed in a statement to BuzzFeed that the campaign checked every supporter’s identification at the door.

“We checked every ID at the door to make sure it matched with the name on the ticket that supporters filled out,” she said. “We did this for every person who came in.”

The Obama campaign has faced infiltrators from the Romney campaign, which has deployed aides and volunteers to blend in with supporters and attend Obama events.

Republicans point out that while they check IDs for their supporters, the Obama administration opposes efforts to require identification at polling places on election day — so called voter ID laws — arguing they are discriminatory.

“The security of the president is as important as the security of a voters ballot,” Rory Cooper, communications director at the conservative Heritage Foundation, told BuzzFeed. “Both are institutions that we need to protect. I wish the President and Attorney General agreed and would stop challenging common sense voter ID rules that ensure no vote is stolen.”