|
 |
Hosemann touts need for voter ID in state
|
| By: ADAM NORTHAM, DAILY LEADER Staff Writer |
May 28, 2008 |
|
|
WESSON - Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann extolled on the finer points of the state's pending voter ID bill at the Mississippi American Legion Boys State program at Copiah-Lincoln Community College Tuesday.
|
Hosemann attempted to bypass politics and show the incoming high school seniors why a voter ID bill - a hot topic in the 2008 regular and special sessions of the Legislature - is necessary for the state to end false voter rolls and vote selling.
Hosemann said 24 of the state's 82 counties have more registered voters than residents. Long, inaccurate voter rolls such as these, he said, are the main reason why 85 percent of Mississippians believe that some form of voter fraud took place during recent elections.
"It makes good, common sense that people should identify themselves when they go to the polls, like everywhere else," Hosemann said. "It's a worn and tired argument to say that voter ID has been brought before the Legislature before and should be postponed. We should focus on it once and for all."
Hosemann said the passage of a voter ID bill would not immediately terminate all forms of voter fraud in the state, but would be the first of many steps to ensure fair and accurate elections. The main thing such a bill would accomplish presently, he said, is lowering the percentage of voters who have no confidence in the system.
"Just the perception of whether or not we have dead people voting in this state - people are starting to believe it," he warned. "Voter ID wouldn't clear all of the problems, but it would clear the air to the integrity of the vote. Right now, people can't understand why we don't have voter ID."
Hosemann said the passage of a voter ID law in Indiana - which was recently upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court - actually increased voter participation by 2 percent, particularly in areas of poverty. Impoverished voters are those mainly affected by voter fraud, he said.
"Cut through all the debate and look at who is selling their votes," Hosemann said. "Voter fraud is designed to keep poor people from going through the electoral process and changing their leaders. The people who are the most vulnerable are selling their votes - being used to keep the status quo instead of making a change."
As for the stigma of the state's racial history - a prime argument used by many to attack voter ID - Hosemann said such issues no longer exist in Mississippi.
"It's not about those old memories," he said. "Those days are over, and you don't have to walk any farther than into the middle of the House of Representatives to see that diversity. Voter ID is a psychological leap for the state. With 85 percent of the people favoring it, that's obviously a good cross section."
Hosemann pointed out that 97 percent of Mississippians have a driver's license - or at least one of 13 other available forms of photo ID. For those that don't, the state will provide them an ID at no charge, he said.
"There is no impetus to a voter ID requirement," Hosemann said.
A voter ID bill is currently on the Legislature's agenda for the special session, but Hosemann's office is not waiting for it to become law before it begins to work on voter fraud.
Beginning this June, Hosemann said, officials will be dispatched to each of the 24 counties with more registered voters than their population to begin purging the rolls. Hosemann said the state could face "mischief" if the rolls are not purged before the presidential elections.
Hosemann's points were well-received by the students of Boys State.
Will Craft, a 16-year-old senior from Simpson County, said he believed a voter ID bill necessary to stop the counting of votes cast, apparently, by the deceased; stop voters from voting twice and end vote selling.
And the stigma of racism at the polling place was lost on him.
"Being here at Boys State, I think racism is a thing of the past," Craft said. "There's only one race - human. We need an authorization process."
Brookhaven High School senior LaKenya Kelly, 17, said voter ID would a positive step for Mississippi, depending on how it is carried out.
"If the state provides the ID and pays for it with tax money, I don't think it's any different than a driver's license," he said. "But if you have to drive far and pay a lot to get your voter ID, then I don't think that's fair.
"Then it becomes a social issue," Kelly continued. "It becomes an elitist movement if you don't have the means to travel and purchase. It depends on how the state handles it."
|
|
©The Daily Leader 2009
|
|
|
