Gov. Phil Bryant Suggests Voters Voluntarily Show ID (Mississippi)

[TardisBlue]

What part of 'VOTER ID IS NOT REQUIRED' does the Governor not understand?

***New link posted below now links to an updated article.

I found the orginal link to this article on twitter. (Posted below.) The tweet was from @JxnFreePress, but the link is now dead and I can't find the article on their website.***
www.jacksonfreepress.com

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From the Jackson Free Press October 31, 2012 4:23CDT

JACKSON — The Associated Press is reporting that Gov. Phil Bryant thinks it would be a good idea for citizens to voluntarily present identification when voting on Nov. 6 even though doing so is not legally required.

Bryant made the comments to an AP reporter this afternoon after he addressed an annual meeting of businesspeople and politicians known as the Mississippi Hobnob.

RIckey Cole, chairman of the Mississippi Democratic Party, called Bryant's remarks "an apparent end-run around federal law."

"Bryant made these statements knowing full well that there is no requirement for identification in this election. By pandering to the Tea Party extremists, Bryant has deliberately created confusion among voters and election officials with less than six days to go until the election," Cole said in a statement.

Democrats, civil-liberties and civil-rights organizations have denounced voter ID proposals nationwide as making it harder for racial and ethnic minorities, young people and senior citizens to cast ballots. Mississippi passed a voter ID law, but the requirement has not earned approval from the U.S. Department of Justice, which must OK changes to Mississippi's voting laws. The DOJ has asked Mississippi for more evidence that its law would not hurt minority voters.

Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, one of voter ID's chief architects and backers, recently responded to criticism that his office was fueling voter confusion about the need to show ID by placing notices on his agency's website and sending out press releases affirming that voter ID will unnecessary this year.

Cole added that Bryant, Hosemann and Attorney General Jim Hood should make a joint statement letting voters know that voter ID is not needed to vote.

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Edit2 to add new, working link with more written in the article.
http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2012/oct/31/miss-gov-says-voters-should-voluntarily-show-id/

Edit1 to add link:
http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2012/oct/31/ap-bryant-suggests-voters-voluntarily-show-id/

[Coyotl]

1. This is voter suppression and abuse of power

[Blue Idaho]

2. I suggest republican Gov. Phil bend over and kiss my ass.

Slowly but surely we are trading our freedoms for some false sense of security. This is one more thread in the strangely fascist tapestry of America and I believe we should resist overly invasive government it at every turn.

The party of "small government" my ass...