Debate heats up over voter ID laws
WASHINGTON -- Mississippi has joined the growing number of states adopting tougher voter ID laws, a trend that promises to fuel an intense battle over how such laws may affect voter turnout in the 2012 elections.
"It's boiling over," said Jennie Bowser, a senior election policy analyst at the National Conference of State Legislatures. "People on both sides of the aisle are very protective of elections. They regard it as the cornerstone of American democracy. ''
Nearly 200 mostly Democratic lawmakers, including Rep. Bennie Thompson of Bolton, recently wrote state election officials urging them to not to let the new laws jeopardize voters' rights.
Democrats and civil rights groups warn that millions of voters, mostly minorities, may be turned away at the polls next year if they don't have the required ID.
"Voting rights are under attack in America,'' said Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga. The new laws are "slowly robbing Americans of a basic constitutional right,'' he said.
Supporters of the laws, mostly Republicans, say they help prevent fraudulent practices such as casting ballots under the names of dead people.
"What I hope it accomplishes in Mississippi is … fairer and more open, honest elections,'' said Republican state Sen. Joey Fillingane, who worked to get the state's new law on Tuesday's ballot.
He said the new law isn't a cure-all, but "it will keep people in the cemetery from voting.''
Both sides are awaiting decisions from the U.S. Justice Department on whether new voter ID laws in Texas and South Carolina violate a section of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Under the law, certain states with a history of discriminatory voting practices must get approval from Justice Department officials before making election changes.
The department's decision on the Texas law is due Dec. 5. Its decision on the South Carolina law is due Dec. 27. Mississippi will have to submit its plan to the department or to U.S district court in Washington.
The Texas decision will be the first ruling on a voter ID law under the Obama administration.
"There is some question about whether DOJ under the Obama administration might take a different view than DOJ under the Bush administration," Bowser said. "They're not tipping their hand at all.''
Mississippi is the 31st state to approve a tougher voter ID law during the last decade, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The measure approved Tuesday, if approved by the Justice Department or the courts, would require voters to show a government-issued photo ID when they go to the polls.
Some groups, including the NAACP and the American Civil Liberties Union, are considering whether to challenge the law in court. They say its language is vague and it could suppress minority turnout.
State election officials said a possible legal challenge was factored into the $1.5 million estimated cost of implementing the law, which was modeled after a 2005 law enacted in Indiana.
Indiana and Georgia were among the first states to enact voter ID laws. Georgia adopted its law in 2006. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld Indiana's law in 2008.
Eight states — Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin — now require government-issued photo IDs to vote, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
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