A retired couple from Murfreesboro will testify before a House subcommittee later this month about their experience with Tennessee’s new law requiring a photo ID to vote. Democrats on Thursday ratcheted up efforts to combat new voting laws adopted by 13 states that Democrats say are deliberate efforts to keep its core voting blocs from casting ballots next year.
“Election legislation and administration appear to be increasingly the product of partisan plays,” says a letter to election officials in all 50 states signed by 196 Democrats in the House of Representatives. “Election officials are seen as partisan combatants, rather than stewards of democracy.” In a hearing scheduled for Nov. 14, Lee Campbell and his wife, Phyllis, will talk about their experience securing a photo ID for her in Rutherford County. She is one of the estimated 126,000 registered voters in Tennessee over age 60 who do not have a photo on their driver’s license.
The state has promised to provide photo IDs free of charge, but Lee Campbell told The Daily News Journal that he and his wife ran into trouble when they went to a license testing center on Sept. 9. They asked for a free ID but were told by a worker that the process involved too much paperwork and that they should just renew her driver’s license to add a photo at a cost of $8 or $12. The couple persisted and said they wanted a free ID, but instead the worker made Phyllis Campbell a new driver’s license with a photo free of charge.
Full Article: Democrats target voter ID laws in 13 states | The Tennessean | tennessean.com.