Officials try to head off confusion on limited voter ID provision

EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS

Associated Press  12 October 2004

JACKSON, Miss. - To ID or not to ID?

That's the question poll workers will be asking Nov. 2 as Mississippians vote in the general election.

Calculations show about 2 percent of registered voters should have to show a driver's license or other identification before casting a ballot. They're people who mailed in voter registration forms since Jan. 1, 2003, are participating in their first federal election and whose addresses have not been independently verified by election officials.

The secretary of state's office said postcards were mailed Tuesday to the 40,256 people who fit the categories to show ID.

The state had nearly 1.8 million registered voters in late August, the most recent figures available. Election officials say the rolls are inflated in many counties.

Bills requiring all Mississippi voters to show identification have failed the past several years in the Legislature amid arguments about whether ID would help ensure election integrity or would be used to intimidate older voters who once had to pay poll taxes.

The ID requirement for first-time voters who register by mail came from the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002.

Local election officials have been trained to know which voters should have to show ID, said David Blount, spokesman for the secretary of state's office.

Blount said there is some concern among election officials about the potential for confusion among people at the polls, particularly if one voter sees another asked for identification.

"There will be voters who will be asked for ID, and there will be voters who will not be asked for ID," Blount said.

Barbara Powell, legislative liaison for the open government group Common Cause Mississippi, said poll workers' training should help them understand when ID is required. She acknowledged there could be reason to worry that candidates' poll watchers could give out inaccurate information about ID requirements.

"Since this is a new process, it is always a concern that this will go smoothly and that it will not be misused," Powell said.

The valid forms of ID are:

_A current and valid form of photo identification, such as a driver's license.

_A current utility bill with the voter's name and address.

_A bank statement with the voter's name and address.

_A government check with the voter's name and address.

_A paycheck with the voter's name and address.

_Any other government document that shows the voter's name and address.

The secretary of state's office has sent posters to be displayed in each precinct explaining the new ID requirement. Another poster says that campaigning is prohibited within 150 feet of the outer edge of a building that houses a precinct.

A third poster lists prohibitions for poll watchers who are at precincts to observe elections for candidates or political parties. It says the poll watchers may not "move about the polling places greeting voters," "influence or harass voters" or "interrupt the election process."