Red tape has some voters worried

By Butch Weir/Picayune Item
Friday, October 15, 2004 2:11 PM CDT

POPLARVILLE - A measure designed to facilitate voter registration may be having the opposite affect.

A few voters who registered by the Motor Voter provision when they applied for a driver's license with the Mississippi Department of Motor Vehicles are discovering their names are not on voter rolls and are worried they may not be eligible to vote.

Pearl River County Circuit Clerk Vickie Hariel said for a person to be fully registered, voter information has to be received and verified by the circuit clerk's office.

"... if you haven't gotten a registration card, don't assume you will be registered or that you have registered in time," Hariel said. "We don't control the DMV," Hariel said.

While a person may have registered through via the Motor Voter provision, until that information reaches the clerk's office, that person cannot be put on the rolls, Hariel said.

"While a person who registered through the DMV may not appear on the rolls on election day, any motor voter form filled out prior to the Oct. 1 deadline to register will be eligible to vote," Hariel said.

One resident reported being aware of seven people affected by the situation. Hariel had no information on the number of possible voters who might be affected and said only one resident had come to her office for clarification.

David Blount in the Secretary of State's office said this was the first instance he was aware of this year, but that it had occurred in previous years. Blount said it was the job of the Department of Public Safety to see to the timely delivery of voter registration information to the circuit clerk's office. He said if a person registered through Motor Voter prior to the deadline for registration in a given election that person is eligible to vote.

Hariel said the driver's license office in Picayune tries to get new voter information to her office as quickly as possible, but she is not aware what schedule the Poplarville driver's license location uses.

The Picayune driver's license location is near the Picayune Circuit Clerk's office and open five days a week while driver's license service in Poplarville is only twice a month.

If a prospective voter's name does not appear on the voter lists at the time of voting, an affidavit ballot is used, placed in a sealed envelope and the county election commission determines the validity of the ballot, Blount said.

Hariel advised that voters register well in advance of deadlines, particularly if they use the Motor Voter option, to avoid confusion and delay in having their vote counted. All voters are ultimately issued a voter registration card from the circuit clerk's office giving a registration number, the location of the polling place, the races the voter is eligible to vote in, the date of initial registration and the issuance date of the card.