Ellington

The Senate Elections Committee passed a bill today that would require all Mississippi voters to present a form of identification at the polling place. The bill, SB 2548, is sponsored by Sen. Terry Burton, R-Newton, and supported by many Republicans, who consider it a defense against voter fraud. Democrats have warned that voter ID requirements could intimidate or effectively disenfranchise elderly black voters who remember poll taxes and other segregation-era restrictions on voting.

Gov. Haley Barbour has expressed support of voter ID legislation and mentioned it in his State of the State address Monday evening. Barbour also called for the Legislature to allow early voting.