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Hosemann touts voter
I.D. in Corinth visit
Published Wednesday, August 26
By Jebb Johnston
Staff Writer
Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann expressed confidence Tuesday that voter identification will be passed through an upcoming Mississippi ballot initiative.
Hosemann, a supporter of the initiative, addressed a joint meeting of Kiwanis, Rotary and Civitans and met with the Daily Corinthian editorial board.
"We'll get this, and in a few years' time it will be forgotten," said Hosemann, suggesting it will find little resistance from the public. "It's more of a psychological step for the state."
He has no exact numbers but believes that the petition effort currently stands at 25,000 to 30,000 signatures.
"Right now, we're not at the point to have the numbers for it to pass," he said.
The effort to get voter I.D. on a statewide general election ballot needs 90,000 qualified signatures spread equally across the state's congressional districts.
Hosemann said he believes there is strong support for voter I.D. in northeast Mississippi.
"It's common sense," he said. "There's no reason not to have voter I.D." He cited documented cases of the names of deceased individuals being used to cast votes as evidence of the need. After Tuesday's lunch meeting, he heard from one of the local party leaders about such a case. He argued that the voting system risks losing the interest of the voters if it loses their confidence.
"We don't need to let the arguments of the past dictate where we're going in the future," he said.
Voters would be required to present a driver's license or an I.D. card.
"It's not very many people that would be inconvenienced by getting a free I.D.," said Hosemann.
The secretary of state is also pushing for an annual filing report for limited liability companies, the most common choice of business formation in the state, with more than 90,000 in existence. Hosemann said there is currently no method of tracking active and inactive LLCs.
"They file one time with the secretary of state's office, and then you never hear from them again," he said. "It's a big hole in the law."
