Miss. Senate passes ID requirement for most voters

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January 15, 2009

Anonymous The Meridian Star Thu Jan 15, 2009, 10:38 PM CST

JACKSON (AP) — A bill requiring most Mississippians to show identification to vote passed the state Senate Thursday with a provision the governor doesn’t want — an exception for older people.

The bill would require people born in 1946 or later to show a driver’s license or other valid ID when voting; people born before then would not face the requirement. Poll books list each voter’s date of birth, so precinct workers would know which people are supposed to show ID.

The bill says counties would provide free ID cards for any voter who doesn’t have one.

The bill passed 38-12 on Thursday, but was held for the possibility of more debate.

Elections Committee Chairman Terry Burton, R-Newton, said Mississippi needs voter ID to protect the integrity of elections. But opponents say the requirement would place an unnecessary burden on voters and could be used to intimidate older black voters who were once subject to Jim Crow laws.

Opposition to the bill lessened after Sen. David Blount, D-Jackson, persuaded his colleagues to include the exemption for older people. Blount, who worked for former Secretary of State Eric Clark, said providing free ID cards could cost the state up to $500,000 and did not answer his concerns.

‘‘We need a law that respects our seniors, especially those who personally experienced having their constitutional right to vote denied,’’ Blount said.

Burton was among the lawmakers who opposed adding the exemption. He tried to defeat Blount’s amendment but couldn’t get the votes. Burton said he isn’t aware of any age exemptions in voter ID laws in other states.

A voter ID bill that would exempt people 65 or older is pending in the House and has drawn criticism from Gov. Haley Barbour and Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, both Republicans.

‘‘There is no reason or example for excluding people on the basis of age,’’ Barbour said in his State of the State address this week.

Hosemann said in a news release that the House bill has ‘‘unnecessary and unmanageable identification requirements that water down the goal of meaningful voter reform.’’

Sen. David Jordan, D-Greenwood, tried to press Burton for examples of how photo ID could have prevented incidents of election fraud.

‘‘You have not been able to come up with any significant number of cases of fraud involving voter ID,’’ Jordan said.

Under the bill, documents allowed include a driver’s license, a passport, a state government employment ID or a military identification card — all of which would have a photo. The county-issued ID would include a person’s name, date of birth, height, weight and eye color.

The federal Help America Voter Act has an ID requirement for first-time voters who registered by mail, but it allows forms of identification that also include utility bills and paychecks.

The House bill that includes voter ID would allow people to show some forms of ID with a photo and some without.

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The bills are Senate Bill 2548 and House Bill 430.

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