Tennesseans required to show photo ID for voting effective 2012
thetomahawk.com
By Paula Walter
published: 08-31-2011



Governor Bill Haslam recently signed new legislation effective January 1, 2012, that will require Tennessee voters to present government-issued photo identification when voting. The March 2012 presidential primary will be the first election in which this new law will be enforced.

Voters will need to present one of the following forms of identification at their voting location: a Tennessee driver's license with photo, a United States passport, a photo identification that was issued by either Tennessee state or the federal government, a military photo identification card or a Tennessee photo identification gun permit. Voters may not present a student college photo identification card. For those voters who arrive to vote and do not have any of the above forms of identification with them, they may vote with a provisional ballot. The voter then has two days to return to their local election commission office and provide a valid form of identification.

Absentee voters, those who live in nursing homes or assisted living centers, those voters who are hospitalized, voters with a religious objection to being photographed, and voters who are financially unable to provide the funds necessary to obtain a photographic identification from one of the above sources are exempt from the new legislative changes.

Johnson County's state representative, Scotty Campbell, voted against the legislation. While proponents of the new legislation believe it will help reduce voter fraud, there are those who believe it will hinder both the indigent and physically disabled from casting their votes. “I voted against this legislation because local people told me to go to Nashville and make their lives easier, not more complicated,â€