Tennessee: Student IDs deemed unacceptable as voter ID under new Tennessee law | The Daily Helmsman

With free admission and discounts to local attractions and restaurants, most students are quick to wield the power of their student identification, but a new law requiring photo identification at the polls next year cuts that power short.
Effective Jan. 1, 2012, all Tennessee voters are required to have a photo ID if they expect to cast a ballot. The current law requires voters only to show proof of signature.

Acceptable forms of photo ID include a Tennessee driver's license, a valid photo ID issued by the state of Tennessee or any other state in the United States, a valid United States passport, an employee photo ID card issued by Tennessee or any state in the United States or a military photo ID card. However, student identification is not included in the list, despite the required photo of the student on an ID card by most colleges.

Tennessee: Elderly could run afoul of Tennessee voter ID requirements | The Daily Times

Elderly people without driver’s licenses could face difficulty complying with a new state voter identification law that goes into effect on Jan. 12. Under the law, a voter will be required to produce a federal or state government-issued photo ID before being allowed to vote. Although free photo IDs can obtained from any Department of Safety driver’s license testing station, those without a license must present additional documentation — proof of citizenship (such as a birth certificate) and two proofs of Tennessee residency (such as a copy of a utility bill, vehicle registration/title, or bank statement) — to receive one.

During a Blount County Election Commission town meeting Tuesday, Administrator of Elections Abby Breeding told the handful of attendees that this can prove difficult for some older voters. “It’s a lot of paperwork for some of the elderly to do.”

Drivers in Tennessee age 60 and older may opt to carry a non-photo driver license. It is much easier for those people to receive the free ID, Breeding said. “It’s not that difficult for them to get their picture added to it,” she said. “The difficult one is if they don’t have a driver’s license.”

Tennessee: Ramsey’s voter ID taxi service gets its first fare | The Tennessean

A Nashville woman was the first to take Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey up on his joking offer to give a ride to anyone who needed transportation to get a new picture identification card to vote. Eileen Marhefka, 65, said an aide to Ramsey dutifully picked her up at her home in East Nashville on Wednesday and shuttled her to the driver service center at Tennessee Tower to get a non-driving ID card. The aide also advised her on how to get the card free of charge.

Ramsey told reporters in September that he would drive anyone to get an ID — so confident was he that the number who lack picture IDs and the means to get one would be small. The comment was made in jest, but Ramsey has said he would stand by the offer.

Marhefka said she had been living without a photo ID for about 11 years, running into problems only periodically at her bank. After finding out about the voter ID law, she said she asked for help from Congressman Jim Cooper’s district office, which in turn told her about Ramsey’s offer. (A Cooper spokesman said they also suggested Marhefka call state Rep. Mike Stewart and state Sen. Thelma Harper, the Democrats who represent her area.)

Tennessee: Some college students feel targeted by TN voter ID | Elizabethton Star

Tennessee’s new voter identification law allows most state and federally issued IDs to be used to vote, including work IDs issued to the faculty and staff of state-run colleges. But the student IDs issued at those same schools are specifically prohibited. That has caused some students to believe they are being targeted by the law, which takes effect in January.

“I think this is intended to keep in check the main people who voted our current president in,” Christopher Martin, vice president of Tennessee Federation of College Democrats and a junior at Tennessee State University, told The Tennessean (http://bit.ly/uuwLD6 ). “It’s crazy that they can use the faculty ID but we can’t use the student ID.”

Tennessee: Veteran had to pay for voter photo ID | The Daily News Journal

World War II veteran Darwin Spinks is wondering why he had to pay $8 to get a voter photo ID that should have been free when he recently went to the driver's license testing center here. The state Legislature passed a law this spring requiring voters to show a photo ID in order to cast a ballot. It included the requirement that any Tennessee resident who didn't have a photo ID could get one free of charge.

But when the 86-year-old Spinks visited the testing center about a month ago on Samsonite Boulevard to get a photo ID for voting purposes, he said he had to pay.

Spinks said Tuesday he needed the photo because when his driver's license with a photo expired the last time, the driver testing center issued him a new license without a photo on it. State law allows people over 60 to get a non-photo driver's license.

Tennessee: Voting law impacts seniors | The Tennessean

Robertson County seniors who don’t have a picture on their government-issued ID cards will have to obtain new cards if they want to vote next year. A new law which requires all voters to present government-issued photo ID at the polls was created to put an end to voter fraud, but one group that will be affected by this change will be seniors, who have the option not to use a photo on their driver’s licenses or state-issued ID cards.

“I just don’t think it’s right,” said Frances Swearingen, 86. “I’ve worked at the polls, and if you hand me your voter registration and your ID, there’s not going to be any fraud.”

Swearingen has not had her photo on her identification since she turned 65.

Tennessee: Group says poll shows Tennesseans confused by voter photo ID law | The Daily News Journal

A new poll issued by the MTSU Survey Group reveals that most Tennesseans are aware of the state’s new voter ID law, but many confused about the details. Tennessee Citizen Action released the following statement:

“We’re not surprised that many Tennesseans are confused about the details of the new photo ID to vote law because it’s in the details that the devil lives. The requirements necessary for Tennesseans to comply with the law are restrictive, excessive, and extremely confusing.

“For instance, the law states that the ID must be a ‘valid government-issued photo ID’ but we’re being told we can use an expired driver’s license. We’re not sure when ‘valid’ and ‘expired’ started to mean the same thing. We’re also being told that certain government-issued photo IDs, such as those issued by state universities and colleges, cannot be used, while others, such as gun permits, can.

Tennessee: Chattanooga woman denied voting ID gains national attention | timesfreepress.com

Dorothy Cooper may be 96, but she's become the poster child for Democratic opposition to a Republican-sponsored state law requiring photo identification to vote -- she's even attracted the attention of the nation's Democrat in Chief. Days after the Chattanooga resident was denied the free photo ID card promised in a new state law, state Democratic Party Chairman Chip Forrester cited her travails in a campaign fundraising email.

Forrester's email said that "Tennessee's new Republican 'photo ID' law has successfully suppressed another voter," as reported by Nashville Scene. It invited potential donors to "Please give $5, $10 or $25 to support our efforts to ensure people like Dorothy -- or your grandmother -- can be a voter on Election Day."

Tennessee: After long wait with no seat, 91-year-old voter quits on ID | The Daily News Journal

Ninety-one-year-old Virginia Lasater has voted and worked in campaigns for some 70 years. But Wednesday she ran head-long into the barrier Tennessee's new voter photo ID law is throwing up for some elderly people. Recently moved to Murfreesboro from her farm in Lewisburg to live with son, Richard Lasater, she registered to vote Wednesday at the Rutherford County Election Commission office but that afternoon found herself facing long lines at the driver's license testing center in Murfreesboro. She's never had a photo ID on her license, even though she's still capable of driving and goes to Sunday school.

Aided by a walking cane to get around, she quickly decided she couldn't stand up long enough to wait and her son could find no chairs available for her to sit. Richard estimated at least 100 people were in the building, and workers were "way overworked and way understaffed." He was told at the help desk there was nothing they could do but wait. They left, upset about the law and the long lines.

Tennessee: How A 96-Year-Old Woman Rejected A Voter ID | News One

This week, conservative-leaning, African-American columnist Juan Williams wrote an op-ed in The Hill defending the right to vote against states that are now imposing restrictive laws such as identification requirements. Citing the Brennan Center for Justice report that up to five million citizens could be denied voting privileges in 2012 due to new state rules, Williams wrote of the GOP:

“They are turning back the clock on voting rights in America. … It is no secret that 10 percent of all Americans don’t have government-issued identification and that this includes nearly 20 percent of young voters and 25 percent of black voters.”

Someone should ask GOP candidate Herman Cain how he feels about that. After all, his state of Georgia is one of eight states that have passed photo voter ID laws, and is one of five that also requires proof of citizenship to vote. Such laws impact minorities, students and the elderly disproportionately. With the exception of Kansas, each of the states with both voter ID and proof of citizenship laws have significant African-American populations: Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee.

Tennessee: Democratic lawmakers file measure to repeal voter ID law | The Tennessean

Democratic lawmakers are filing legislation to repeal the Republican-backed voter photo ID law and challenging statements that college student IDs were excluded because of campus fraud committed for underage drinking.

Senate Democratic Chairman Lowe Finney of Jackson and House Democratic Chairman Mike Turner of Old Hickory said Wednesday they are sponsoring legislation to turn back the photo ID act, which takes effect Jan. 1, contending it could disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of Tennessee voters. “We have a duty as lawmakers to protect the ballot box, but we also have a duty to protect Tennessee citizens’ ability to vote,” Finney said. “This new requirement will put hundreds of thousands of Tennesseans in danger of losing their right to vote. It’s our job to defend that right.”

Tennessee: Clerks issue free photo-licenses for voter ID law | wbir.com

As of January 2012, voters in Tennessee will need a government-issued photo ID to vote at the polls.  Voters will still be able to cast absentee or provisional ballots without a photo ID.

For most people, the identification form of choice will just be a driver license.  However, tens of thousands of driver licenses in Tennessee do not meet the minimum requirements to gain entry to the polls.

Tennessee: Commissioner orders ‘common sense,’ speedy handling of voter ID cards | Knoxville News Sentinel

Safety Commissioner Bill Gibbons said supervisors at driver's license testing stations have been instructed to use "common sense discretion" in issuing free photo identification cards to Tennesseans who need them for voting, even if they are missing a document required "from a technical standpoint."

Gibbons also said driver's service centers in 15 counties, including Knox, will be open on the first Saturday of every month, starting Nov. 5, to exclusively handle only photo ID card issuance. Citizens appearing on other days to get a photo ID voter card will be placed in an "express category" as compared to people seeking a regular driver's license, he said.

The commissioner, who oversees driver's license operations, appeared with Secretary of State Tre Hargett, who oversees the state election system, at a Nashville news conference Wednesday. Also in attendance were representatives of AARP, which has been working with state officials to educate voters about requirements of the new law taking effect Jan. 1.

Tennessee: 96-year-old Chattanooga resident denied voting ID | timesfreepress.com

Dorothy Cooper is 96 but she can remember only one election when she's been eligible to vote but hasn't. The retired domestic worker was born in a small North Georgia town before women had the right to vote. She began casting ballots in her 20s after moving to Chattanooga for work. She missed voting for John F. Kennedy in 1960 because a move to Nashville prevented her from registering in time.

So when she learned last month at a community meeting that under a new state law she'd need a photo ID to vote next year, she talked with a volunteer about how to get to a state Driver Service Center to get her free ID. But when she got there Monday with an envelope full of documents, a clerk denied her request.

That morning, Cooper slipped a rent receipt, a copy of her lease, her voter registration card and her birth certificate into a Manila envelope. Typewritten on the birth certificate was her maiden name, Dorothy Alexander. "But I didn't have my marriage certificate," Cooper said Tuesday afternoon, and that was the reason the clerk said she was denied a free voter ID at the Cherokee Boulevard Driver Service Center. "I don't know what difference it makes," Cooper said.

Tennessee: Need a photo ID to vote? Get ready to wait | timesfreepress.com

State stats say it takes 53 minutes on average for someone to get a driver's license from one of Tennessee's 48 driver service centers. But those suffering through the process say the ordeal actually can last hours and even require multiple trips.

The difference? Official stats only take into account the time that elapses between a customer entering the building and getting served. They don't include time customers often must spend in line before they actually get inside the service center, let alone the occasional need for coming more than once.

"This is from the time someone pulls a number to be served [meaning they are inside the building]," said Jennifer Donnals, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security. "It does not include the wait time before then as there is no accurate way to determine that time."

Tennessee: Tennessee’s voter-ID law draws congressional scrutiny | wbir.com

Laws that require voters to show photo identification at the polls reduce election fraud, supporters of Tennessee's new voter ID law told Senate lawmakers Thursday. Opponents of such laws countered that they target low-income, minority and student voters, who are more likely to vote for Democrats and might lack government-issued IDs such as driver's licenses and passports.

Democrats and voting-rights advocates told members of the Senate subcommittee on civil rights that rural and elderly voters also could be disproportionately affected because they might have trouble traveling to get an ID. In Tennessee, voters over 60 aren't required to have a photo on their driver's licenses.

Tennessee: Quirky laws let prisoners vote | The Tennessean

For one eight-year, four-month period some 30 years ago, criminals could do anything they wanted in the state of Tennessee without losing at least one freedom: the right to vote. That fact now haunts Mary Carolyn Roberts, a candidate for a Metro Council seat representing the West Nashville district where three state prisons are located. “It’s just unsettling to see nine felons … deciding who our elected officials are,” Roberts said.

Roberts lost to Councilman Buddy Baker by 46 votes last month, but Baker received just nine more votes than he needed to avoid a runoff in the three-candidate District 20 race. Roberts later filed an election challenge, citing votes by nine prisoners — including six who aren’t even incarcerated in Nashville — and by 14 other people who allegedly don’t live in the district.

… Until Jan. 15, 1973, people found guilty of “infamous” crimes in Tennessee forfeited their voting rights. The definition of “infamous” was quirky to the point of ridiculousness: Someone convicted of abusing a female child would be banned from the ballot box, but nothing was said about abusing a male child. And while bigamy, horse stealing or destroying a will would lead to disenfranchisement, first-degree murderers including James Earl Ray, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassin, continued to vote with the law on their side.

Tennessee: Groups prepare for voter ID law | timesfreepress.com

Local election commissions and advocacy groups are rolling out campaigns to educate people about a new Tennessee law that requires registered voters to present photo identification at the polls. Election commissioners say they worry that people don't know or understand the new requirements. Senior and minority groups are concerned that the law, which will go into effect Jan. 1, creates voting "hurdles" for groups less likely to have photo IDs, including seniors, minorities and young voters.

The law, which lawmakers say was passed to reduce voter fraud, provides a mechanism for free photo IDs for people who do not have them. Qualified photo IDs include Tennessee driver's licenses, gun permits with photos, any other state-issued ID except for student IDs issued by state universities, and federal government-issued IDs such as passports and military IDs.

"People don't realize this is a law; people are angry," said Hamilton County Election Administrator Charlotte Mullis-Morgan. "Nobody can tell me there was voter fraud in Hamilton County."

Tennessee: Editorial: Trying to cope with voter ID | The Commercial Appeal

Tennessee's new photo identification law is a solution in search of a problem that voters will have to deal with unless courts rule that it is an unconstitutional infringement on access to the polls. The voter ID law was taken from boiler plate legislation drafted by the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council.

It is described by critics as part of an effort to solidify Republican majorities in state legislatures across the country and strengthen the GOP's hand on the federal level. It takes effect next year.

Meanwhile, advocates for the elderly, minorities and others who may be discouraged from voting can help counter its effects with an educational and assistance campaign.

Editorials: Election certainty needs a put-it-on-paper foundation | Tri-State Defender

Recently, you ran articles of an interview with the Shelby County Election Commission’s Chairman and Secretary in the Tri State Defender’s July 14, 2011 and July 21, 2011 editions. During those interviews, Chairman Robert Meyers, while admitting the voting machines are hackable, indicated that he did not believe that hacking or other manipulation was the case with the August 2010 elections. He stated that he believed that “demographics” explained the losses by those who were claiming something improper happened. The inference was that those nine Democrats who lost did so because the traditional Democratic voters did not turn out.

Further in the article, Secretary Norma Lester states that in essence since everything is politically balanced that it is very unlikely that any improper action would take place. As a former Election Commissioner (2 ½ years) and a plaintiff in both the 2006 and 2010 election contest challenges, I feel compelled to challenge these perspectives.

Editorials: Sen. Finney: Voter ID law needless ploy to disenfranchise voters | The Daily News Journal

It is a little over a year until the 2012 elections, and you're eligible to vote for the first time. Maybe you've moved to another county, or maybe you haven't voted in a while and need to know your precinct. You call your local election office, where someone tells you that you will need a photo ID to vote. You learn that you'll need several pieces of documentation to prove your identity in order to receive the ID.

If you live in any of the 54 counties — yes, 54! — where there is no drivers license center, you'll have to travel to a neighboring county to get the ID. Unfortunately, this will be the new norm.

Since coming to the Senate in 2007, each year my fellow Democrats and I have opposed efforts to place barriers between voters and the polling booth. Earlier this year, the Republican majority passed a law requiring photo identification to vote, despite warnings that it would hurt thousands of voters and potentially cost the state millions in federal lawsuits.

Tennessee: Debate rages over new Tennessee voter-ID law | The Commercial Appeal

With the recent passage of a state bill that changes what qualifies as valid voter identification, Memphis -- and Tennessee -- has entered a national conversation on whether such laws are justified or acts of voter intimidation. The bill, which requires voters to present a government-issued photo ID at the polls, becomes law on Jan. 1.

Though proponents of the bill have said it will help curb voter fraud, some contend that it's a measure by Republicans to suppress Democratic votes in 2012 elections. State and local elected officials gathered at the Mt. Olive CME Cathedral Church near Downtown on Sunday afternoon for a forum on the bill, where about 50 attendees from across Memphis posed questions to the representatives.

Editorials: Will long lines sink new voter ID law? | Tri-State Defender

‘Not familiar with Voting Rights Act,’ says Tennessee official

Getting a driver’s license in Tennessee is a test of skill and endurance, but I’m not talking about the road test or written exam, I’m talking about the crazy long lines.

On Friday, I joined 40 people in an outdoor line at 6340 Summer Ave about 12:30 p.m. We huddled together outside of the service center for nearly two hours, standing one-behind the other in 90-plus degree temperatures and punishing humidity. There were no chairs, no water and no restroom breaks. As I steamed, my hair gallantly fought off frizz.

The security guard called four to five customers at a time inside, where we then stood in a second line for 45 additional minutes. It was then we received a customer number and the official wait began. (The Tennessee Department of Public Safety does not officially begin tracking its customer wait time until patrons receive this service ticket. Up to that point, we were just there visiting and hanging out.)

Tennessee: Secretary of State Haggett Shares NNCSVote Concerns | Daily Courier-Observer

A Norwood resident told Norwood-Norfolk School Board members last week that he still had concerns about the close results during this year's school budget vote.

"I have some concerns relative to the overwhelming vote, the two votes that passed the budget last month," Robert Haggett said. "It concerns me that a budget of this size can pass by two votes. That certainly doesn't constitute much of a majority." The district's $19.2 million spending plan, which called for a 5.82 percent tax levy increase, passed by a razor-thin 288-286 margin during the May school budget vote.

However, 581 district residents went to the polls and 22 ballots were voided because the residents did not vote "yes" or "no" on the voting machine for one of the propositions or their votes did not register in the machine, District Clerk Barbara Halpin said.

Tennessee: Sweeping changes to Tennessee voter ID laws coming soon | Action News 5

The Tennessee General Assembly has made sweeping changes to local election laws that will soon go into effect, including a new requirement that states you must present a valid government photo ID to vote.

The new voting identification law will be enacted Friday.  It means, when voting in Tennessee, residents must prove American citizenship and present a valid government photo ID at the polls. College students will not be allowed to use school IDs to vote.

Tennessee: Bill wipes out voter safeguards in Tennessee | The Tennessean

In 2008, the Tennessee General Assembly voted almost unanimously to make elections more secure, dependable and trustworthy by requiring a verifiable paper trail for each vote. The step was long overdue — more than 30 states already have such security measures.

But three years later, secure elections in Tennessee remain at risk, and voters may never know if their votes are counted.

Tennessee: Tennessee Senate Votes To Undo Voter Confidence Act Requirements | Chattanoogan.com

The state Senate voted on Thursday to undo requirements of the Voter Confidence Act passed three years ago. Supporters said the action will ensure that more accurate voting machines would be implemented across the state as the legislature reversed requirements approved three years ago.

House Bill 386 as approved by the Senate would delete the requirement for more secure voting machines with a verifiable paper trail. The touch-screen voting machine system used in many Tennessee counties has been called by experts as “the least secure voting system” in the country.

Tennessee: Tennessee considers proof of citizenship for voter registration | wbir.com

It’s a big deal in town, signs scattered all over Pigeon Forge as voters take up the issue of liquor by the drink and a few city commission spots. “I think we may get 1,000 people to vote today, total,” Tony Rast, whose son is running for one of those commission seats said.

Even with all the hype, Rast’s guess of 1,000 would be just slightly better than one in seven Pigeon Forge residents who have actually gone through the process of registering and then actually showing up to vote on election day.

“Oh, just walk in. Real easy,” Rast said.

Editorials: Senator Roy Harron: Tennessee needs paper trail for every vote | The Commercial Appeal

In 2008 the Tennessee legislature voted almost unanimously to make elections more secure, dependable and trustworthy by requiring a verifiable paper trail for each vote. The step was long overdue — more than 30 states already have such security measures.

But three years later, secure elections in Tennessee remain at risk and voters may never know if their votes are counted.

If legislative Republicans’ march toward passing a bill that would effectively repeal the Voter Confidence Act succeeds, it would be a devastating blow to democracy in Tennessee. The electronic voting machines used in 93 of our 95 counties are so vulnerable to fraud and thievery that they can steal your vote even before you cast your ballot.

Editorials: Tennessee needs reliable paper ballots | The Tennessean

Now The Tennessean reports that this session of the state legislature may repeal the never-implemented Tennessee Voter Confidence Act (April 25). It was the fine work of an earlier session to give us this law. It is a reliable system of voting that requires the use of paper ballots for a possible real check on the accuracy of the electronic vote if and when it becomes necessary.

This is quite impossible with the system that Tennessee has been using, which relies totally on electronic voting machines without paper ballots. These machines have been shown in many different places to be subject to large errors or even deliberate manipulation. There is no way to verify an election with these delicate machines.