Not So Fast on Using College IDs to Vote in Tennessee

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Credit Iowa Disability Vote Coalition / idaction.com

A Republican-led push to use college IDs to vote was held up on the floor of the Tennessee Senate today. Another GOP senator says there’s no need to expand the state’s voter ID law.

This legislation comes from a Rutherford County lawmaker, home to the largest undergraduate student body in the state. And while Senator Bill Ketron refused to accept student IDs when the law was passed two years ago, he’s now had a change of heart.

Senator Stacy Campfield of Knoxville has not.

“You know, I hate to say it, but possibly in my younger days I may have known a person or two who had a falsified college ID,” she said.

Campfield’s objections ended up putting off the bill for a week.

The proposal would also clarify that library cards with a photo are not allowed for voting purposes. The state Supreme Court intervened before the last election and let voters in Memphis use their library cards. The high court is still deliberating on a final decision.

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