Mississippi officials confident in state. voter ID

Mississippi officials confident in state voter ID

Mississippi officials are confident the state’s new voter ID constitutional amendment will pass muster despite the Justice Department’s rejection of a similar South Carolina law requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls.

“The Supreme Court has ruled that voter ID is constitutional and we believe that Mississippi’s plan for implementing voter ID will be constitutional as well,” Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, a Republican, said Saturday.

Under the federal 1965 Voting Rights Act, both states must seek preclearance from federal officials before making changes to election procedures because of their history of discrimination against black voters.

Sixty-two percent of Mississippi voters approved the voter ID initiative on Nov. 8.

Hosemann has said he hopes to have voter ID working before the 2012 presidential election.

The Mississippi NAACP and the ACLU have said they will ask the Justice Department to reject it.

AP
12/24/11