Voter ID bill finding both friends, foes in Tennessee
September 27, 2006

WASHINGTON - The Senate may act this week on a House-passed bill that would require both a government-issued photo ID, such as a driver's license, and proof of U.S. citizenship to vote.

The Tennessee House delegation split along party lines on the bill last week, with Republicans favoring and Democrats opposing.

Joining the Democrats are many interest groups representing the elderly, minorities and the disabled and others who say they might have trouble meeting the new requirements if the bill passes.

But East Tennessee Republicans John J. Duncan Jr. of Knoxville and Zach Wamp of Chattanooga said in interviews that one of the hottest topics in their districts is residents being upset about the number of illegal immigrants entering this country and their potential to vote or get government services, such as health care.

"If someone votes illegally," Duncan said, "they are negating the vote of the person who did so legally. I think people would be willing to do this very minimal requirement to make sure that our elections are not subject to fraud by illegal voters."

Wamp said immigration is the "No. 1" issue in his district.

"It just rubs people the wrong way that our border has been left this porous for so long," Wamp said. "There is a vulnerability that people feel when they think people not here legally might somehow be able to vote."

But 77-year-old Thomas Prough of Knoxville, a local organizer for Democrats, said seniors over age 65 in Tennessee do not have to put their photo on state-issued driver's licenses The state Department of Safety confirmed his assertion.

So, Prough said, seniors in the state would have an extra difficulty in meeting the ID test of the House bill.

"It's a bad bill," he said. "How many 75-, 80-year old people have passports" to prove citizenship?

Prough got so steamed about the House bill that he e-mailed information about it - obtained from the League of Women Voters - to 500 or so people that he knows.

The AARP, which represents seniors; the NAACP, Asian and Hispanic associations, labor groups, Common Cause and the United Methodist Church are among the bill's opponents.

U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr., a Memphis Democrat who is running for the Senate, voted against the bill last week.

"The laws on the books to verify citizenship and identification are sufficient," Ford commented by e-mail. "The voters want employers held responsible for hiring illegals. Sen. (Bill) Frist (R-Tenn.) and Speaker (Dennis) Hastert (R-Ill.), (as the Senate and House leaders), should join together and hammer out a compromise on a tough immigration bill."

Another Tennessee Democrat, Lincoln Davis of Pall Mall, voted against the bill because he represents a large rural area where many rural residents were not born in hospitals and a number of them do not get birth certificates that prove citizenship, Davis spokesman Tom Hayden said. Having to meet that test would make it harder for them to vote, he said.