The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, 9/27/7
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to hear a case challenging Indiana’s voter identification law has ramifications for many states, including Mississippi.
U.S. District Judge Allen Pepper in June ordered the Legislature to develop a system for political parties to keep members of the other party from voting in their primaries. The solution could include requiring voters to register as Republicans, Democrats or unaffiliated, and Pepper said a procedure to ensure voters are who they say they are at the polls must be part of it. He has set a deadline of Aug. 31, 2008, for the Legislature to act.
Whatever happens, Mississippi needs to know the constitutional guidelines it is working under before it adopts a new law – whether as a result of a federal judge’s order or the Legislature’s own initiative. It only makes sense to know what the Supreme Court will say before pushing ahead.
Magnolia Tribune
