34K new Mississippi voters can’t be verified
Of the 189,817 people who have registered to vote since January, Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann said the eligibility of 34,066 cannot be verified by the Department of Public Safety.
Of those, 17,184 mailed in their applications without sufficient identification. Federal law mandates those voters show identification at the polls.
The remaining 16,822 submitted applications at circuit clerk’s offices, either in person or through a third party. Hosemann said that although those voters cannot be verified, they will not be required to show identification.
Hosemann said federal law fails to address such voters, and Mississippi law doesn’t require identification.
“We are not able to verify if they live in the state … we can’t even verify if they’re a resident of this country,” Hosemann said.
Some of the voters registered through voter registration drives, and their forms were delivered by campaign volunteers to circuit clerks’ offices across Mississippi. Several circuit clerks and election commissioners said they consider such voters to be mail-in registrants, and will ask for identification at the polls.
Clarion Ledger
10/28/8
Magnolia Tribune
