Politics-Gov't

Photo ID a must for Mississippi voters next election

Chad Groening (OneNewsNow.com) Monday, December 02, 2013

The head of a Mississippi-based pro-immigration enforcement group hopes the state will do a thorough job of vetting those individuals who apply for voter ID cards next year.
Voter ID laws – are they a good thing or a bad thing
Mississippi's top elections official says the state should start issuing voter identification cards in early 2014. Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann says the free cards will be available to any voter who lacks a driver's license or other government-issued photo ID.

Mississippians approved a voter ID constitutional amendment in 2011, and legislators put the mandate into law in 2012. At that time, Mississippi needed federal approval to alter its election laws. But a Supreme Court ruling this past summer erased the need for federal approval, and Hosemann has been working on rules ever since to implement voter ID.

Dr. Rodney Hunt is president of the Mississippi Federation for Immigration Reform and Enforcement.

Hunt
"Of course we applaud the secretary of state's efforts to have fair and honest elections and have people who are voting in our elections be valid citizens," he tells OneNewsNow. "There should be no doubt about who's participating in our elections, and I think this voter ID would remove the temptation of some to illegally vote in our state."

Hunt is hopeful the state will do a thorough job of vetting those who apply for these new ID cards. "I feel that every effort should be made to ensure that the applicant for a voter ID is qualified to vote," he concludes.

Hosemann says voters will have to start showing ID in June during party primaries for U.S. House and Senate races.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/politics-govt/2013/12/02/photo-id-a-must-for-mississippi-voters-next-election