As expected the new Voter ID law passed in Mississippi will not be in effect for the upcoming November elections. The U.S. Justice Department has not approved the new law and it cannot go into effect until it does so.

    Earlier this week, the Justice Department notified the Mississippi Attorney General that it needs more information from the state before it can rule on Voter ID.

    In a letter to Margarette L. Meeks, special assistant attorney general, DOJ attorney T. Christian Herren Jr. said more information was needed in order to find out if requiring a government-issued photo ID will discriminate against minority voters.

    Essentially DOJ is asking the state to provide the following information:

    • Facts showing that the state’s photo Voter ID requirement will not have a negative effect on minority citizens in the exercise of their voting rights.

    • A detailed description of any new measures that would protect minority voters from any negative effects of photo Voter ID, and

    • Facts that show that the photo Voter ID was not adopted, even in part, to discriminate against minority citizens.

    The DOJ also wants the state to provide each registered voter’s full name, racial identity, date of birth, legal residence address, county, assigned beat or voting precinct, city and their driver’s license number or non-driver identification card permit number, their Social Security number, or unique number assigned by the state.

    Also, DOJ wants the state to provide all of the previously mentioned information for each person listed in any database maintained for the purpose of issuing or tracking permits to carry a pistol or rifle; for anyone issued a photo ID card by the state, county, or local government entity, and for any person listed in any database who is issued a photo ID card by any accredited college, university, community or junior college in the state.

    In addition, the state is being asked to provide a list of all locations that issue a photo ID card that would be an acceptable form of ID for voting.

When DOJ receives the information, it will have 60 days to respond.

    “All the DOJ is saying in this response is that they need more details of the state’s plan in order to make a determination,” said Attorney General Jim Hood.  “What this means is that the Voter ID requirement will not be in place before the November election. You will not be required to show ID at the poll until DOJ interposes no objections or pre-clears Mississippi’s voter ID bill.”

    Some of the requested information is already compiled and can be easily provided, Hood added.

    Mississippi’s Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, whose office handles voter issues in the state, responded as well.

    “The Department of Justice has requested information from the Attorney General as to whether the addition of a Constitutional voter identification provision had a discriminatory purpose,” Hosemann said. “That issue was decided last November by a vote of all the citizens of Mississippi in a free and fair election.”

    Hosemann also said he does not believe there is a discriminatory effect.

    “We believe the process of implementation authorized by the Mississippi Legislature and the rules and regulations will show no discrimination against any citizen of Mississippi,” Hosemann said.

    When asked about the so-called Catch 22 in the new voter ID law, which critics have claimed will make it expensive and difficult for some voters to get a photo ID, a spokesperson for Hosemann’s office said each Circuit Clerk in Mississippi will have access to a nationwide database of birth certificates. There would be no fee to the person who needed to submit a copy of their birth certificate because the clerk’s office would handle it. The requirement for a birth certificate to obtain a government-issued photo ID would not prevent a person from being able to vote.

    For the upcoming election, the only voter needing to furnish an ID, is a voter who did not register at the courthouse in the circuit clerk’s office, instead, mailed their application in and it could not be verified through DMV, according to Donna Jill Johnson, Lauderdale County Circuit Clerk.

    The next election will be held Nov. 6 and will include the race for president and vice president; one U.S. Senate seat in Mississippi, all members of the U.S. House of Representatives, and Mississippi Supreme Court Justices. Two posts on the Lauderdale County School District Board of Trustees will be up for election, but those two are unopposed, as are all Lauderdale County Election Commissioners, who are also up for reelection.

    If you are not already registered to vote, Saturday is the last day to register in time to vote in the Nov. 6 election. The Circuit Clerk’s Office will remain open from 8 a.m. until noon for voter registration.