Michigan’s and Mississippi's Primaries Disprove the Left's Feckless Rhetoric About Voter ID Laws

Both Republican and Democratic voters turned out en masse last Tuesday providing yet another glaring example, among the rapidly expanding list of examples, that voter ID laws do not disenfranchise voters. Michigan broke a record set in 1972:

With more than 2.4 million voters turning out for Michigan's presidential primary on Tuesday, the record set in 1972, when 1.9 million people cast ballots, was shattered. 

Turnout in areas of Michigan was so high Tuesday that some clerks were reporting that some precincts were running out of ballots. The high number was fueled by a huge increase in absentee voting this year over previous elections. 

Clerks ran out of ballots in Redford, Ingham County and in one precinct in Kent County. Additional ballots were quickly sent to those precincts, but some voters reported having to wait for more than an hour in line until more ballots were delivered. 

Turnout was so high at a Redford Township polling station, Precinct 25, that the station ran out of Democratic ballots for at least half an hour, an organizer said.

States with voter ID laws continue to see record turnouts this presidential cycle on both sides of the aisle. Like most states, Michigan, typically classified a swing state, did not seem to have an issue with its citizens finding and using their ID. 

Mississippi also had strong turnout at the polls, with no significant issues reported:

"Voting's been pretty steady," Smithka said. "We've had a pretty good turnout. No real problems with voter ID. A couple people forgot their IDs and had to go home and retrieve them, but other than that it's been pretty smooth." 

Alma Myers, who was in charge of the Walthall School Precinct on Southern Avenue, said everything was fine. 

"Things are going pretty good," she said. The precinct had serviced 171 voters by late afternoon.

Additional states with voter ID laws, specifically Missouri, Florida and North Carolina, have presidential primaries tomorrow. Given the turnout in early voting in North Carolina, it should be another banner day.

Mississippi’s Voter ID Plan Aims to Make It Easy to Vote But Hard to Cheat

The Mississippi Secretary of State has submitted plans to implement voter ID to the U.S. Department of Justice to render a preclearance decision.  This voter ID proposal exemplifies the standard “easy to vote but hard to cheat.” 

Those who oppose voter ID laws will find it hard to challenge Mississippi’s plan, given all the protections to ensure no eligible voter will be prevented from voting.  Here are a list of common objections to voter ID laws and Mississippi’s answers to those problems.

Objection:  Voters don’t have a list of acceptable IDs.

Answer: The list of acceptable IDs is equivalent of those under the federal law, Help America Vote Act.  A November 2012 General Election survey of 6,000 Mississippi voters showed only 0.8% of respondents reported having none of the eight forms of acceptable photo identification.  For that small percentage who don’t, free IDS are offered at Mississippi Clerk offices.

Objection:  It is difficult to travel to locations which provide free IDs.

Answer: Over 99% of citizens are within 20 miles from a Mississippi Circuit Clerk’s Office.    For those who need rides, the Mississippi Department of Transportation will provide free transportation to those clerk offices.

Objection: Obtaining underlying documentation for the free IDs is costly.

Answer: The Mississippi Department of Vital Statistics has agreed to allow Circuit Clerks to verify birth records of voters who cannot provide these materials, at no cost to the voter.

Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann declared, “Our Agency is proposing procedures to ensure every eligible voter who does not currently have acceptable photo ID will be able to obtain an ID easily and free of charge.”  These procedures establish a well-drafted voter ID law that the Justice Department should preclear.