Ellington

"Mississippians remember our election past and are loathed to replicate it. We are not our father's father Mississippi, and our future is now determined by the collective work of today's citizens. The implementation of reasonable constitutional photo identification when casting your ballot is a good example."

—Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann responding to an op-ed that appeared in USA Today Aug. 26.

Why it stinks: In responding to St. Lawrence University professor Alan Draper's critique of Mississippi's voter-identification requirement, Hosemann enumerates the steps his office followed and data it collected to implement the law to meet constitutional muster. What Hosemann nor any other voter ID proponents has ever failed to articulate as precisely is why we need the law at all. A recent analysis of votes since 2000 found only 10 instances of voter impersonation nationwide; zero of them were in Mississippi. That said, dumping so much work—and tax money—into voter ID is anything but reasonable. It's unneeded regulation.