Following years of unsuccessful efforts in the MississippiLegislature, supporters of voter identification are taking theircause straight to state citizens in hopes of getting the measure onthe ballot.

Mississippi needs photo voter ID – plain and simple.

But plain and simple was not what emerged earlier this year inthe state Legislature. Still, the compromise measure that came outof the House of Representatives – long the burial ground for voterID bills in the past – had supporters thinking that this may be theyear.

A handful of Republican senators, though, were successful ineffectively killing the voter ID bill in their chamber. Someobservers derided the senators as obstructionists, but a closerlook at the bill suggests the lawmakers were vigilant for theoverall electoral process.

In addition to voter ID, the bill would have allowed voterregistration up to three days before an election and early voting,as well as tweaking voting rights for felons. The first two aspectsof the law could have created logistical nightmares for electionofficials and potentially more opportunities for voter fraud.

Voter ID supporters were hopeful the troublesome aspects of thebill could have been removed during the legislative conferenceprocess. Others feared they would not and that legal challengescould have removed the voter ID provisions altogether, leavingnothing but the distasteful dictates that could worsen electionproblems.

With that latest hope for voter ID gone, supporters now areseeking signatures around the state to force the issue on theballot through the initiative process. The effort, which has thebacking of the Mississippi Republican Party, needs approximately90,000 signatures to bring the issue to a vote.

If an October 9 deadline is met, the issue could be on theNovember 2010 congressional election ballot. If not – and perhapsmore realistically – the measure could be put before voters for thenext statewide contests in 2011.

Regardless of when – but obviously the sooner the better – theinitiative effort needs to succeed and voter ID be implemented inMississippi.

And unlike this year’s failed legislative attempt, a voter IDbill does not need to be muddied up with early voting and lateregistration provisions that may threaten to negate any gains thatvoter ID would provide.

Simple everyday living, with citizens being required to show IDto do virtually anything, counters the argument that having to showidentification is somehow threatening or intimidating. Andprovisions for giving free ID cards mutes any financial concernargument.

Even voter ID supporters acknowledge that any election is onlyas good as those involved in running it.

Election laws, though, need to be tough enough to deter voterfraud whenever and wherever possible. Enacting photo voter ID wouldbe a big step toward that worthy goal.