A Nashville judge ruled that voters in Memphis cannot use newly issued library cards to vote in Thursday’s primary, but she also urged lawmakers to revisit the state’s new voter identification law to clear up aspects of it that she said made no sense. U.S. District Court Judge Aleta Trauger said Tuesday that she was not convinced the state legislature meant for election officials to accept cards issued by local governments when they passed a law last year requiring voters to show picture IDs. But she said at the conclusion of the two-hour hearing in the Estes Kefauver Federal Building in Nashville that it made no sense that voters could get their ballots by showing any state or federal ID, even one that is expired.
She questioned whether cards from another state, especially those issued under standards that are lower than those for getting a Memphis library card, should be allowed. Trauger urged lawmakers to reopen the issue when the General Assembly reconvenes in January. “It is nonsensical that someone who holds an expired hunter’s license from another state qualifies but yet someone who holds a Memphis library card does not,” Trauger said.
Full Article: Nashville judge questions voter ID law | The Tennessean | tennessean.com.