House elections will tilt photo ID vote
THE AUGUST 30th election for House District
28 in the Delta will be an extremely important election
for the citizens of that district and the Delta in
general.
As I have stated in previous interviews,
evidenced by the last three special sessions, not to
mention the 2005 regular session, it is quite obvious
the House is fractured. Nor is this problem, in my
view, likely to change in the very near future, so we
are in for a contentious 2006 session, I fear.
The House is becoming more conservative as
each election results in a philosophical shift. We
now have three coalitions in the House: the Black
Caucus, the Conservative Coalition and the newly
formed Democratic Caucus. Under the present
leadership, it is difficult to see a true majority
emerging. How will the candidate elected to represent
District 28 align himself or herself with the
coalitions now divided in the House?
Also, since we are in an election, now would be a
good time to think about the fairness and integrity
of elections and how our representatives view the
issue. I have been an advocate for photo ID at the
polls for more than 18 years, having offered legislation
each of these years, finally having a vote on
my floor amendment on March 6, 2003 pass by a
solid vote of 67-51 only to have the House retreat
on a motion to reconsider the following week when
partisan opponents to voter ID managed to scuttle
the biracial compromise.
IN JOHN FUND’S BOOK, “Stealing Elections,
How Voter Fraud Threatens Our Democracy,” he
writes in a chapter on ?A Question of Identity,'”The
most often discussed proposal to limit fraud and
irregularities at the polls is a requirement that all
voters show photo ID before voting, much as they
now do when they take an airline flight, buy an
Amtrak ticket, cash a check, rent a video or check
into a hotel. Poll after poll shows the concept is
popular and easily understood by the American
people.
A Rasmussen Research poll taken for this book
found 82 percent of Americans believed voters
should show photo ID. One candidate in the
District 28 race, Charlie Capps III, I was pleased to
see, came out publicly and committed himself as a
proponent for photo ID at the polls and would support
legislation for this purpose. I had the privilege
of servicing for 18 years with Charlie Capps Jr., his
dad, who also publicly endorsed photo ID at the
polls. Charlie Capps Jr. served our state with honesty,
dignity and a nonpartisan approach to legislating
and knowing Charlie III, I am sure he would
represent in the same manner. Many of us in the
House are watching with interest the election of
House District 28 and look forward to working
with the next member elected by the citizens of the
Delta for the good of all the citizens of our state.
Bill Denny is a Northside state
Bill Denny
Northside Sun
8/25/5
