By a six to three vote, the U. S. Supreme Court has ruled in favor of allowing voter identification in Indiana.

That ruling could have wide ranging effects for Mississippi and other states, where voter ID is always a hot topic when the legislature is in session. This year only half of the state legislature took action on it.

The state Senate passed voter ID and sent it to the House, but the House never brought it up for a vote.

First-year Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann said at least next session, there will be precedence to take to legislators.

"It's a common sense solution," said Hosemann. "The great majority of Mississippians want this; it's not even a question of whether they want it."

The Indiana law requires government issued IDs to be used to show proof of residency.

In Mississippi, lawmakers proposed to issue free IDs, if certain people could not obtain a driver's license, and even then, you could still vote by affidavit ballot if you didn't bring your ID to the polls.

Opposition to voter ID has always said that it would keep certain groups away from the voting booth, like minorities or older Americans, but with this decision, the U.S. Supreme Court says it not only stops voter fraud, it returns integrity to the voting process.

Hosemann said he believes voter ID is just part of the solution to ending voter fraud in Mississippi.

Currently, three counties are working to clean up fraud complaints. Fifteen people in Benton County are under indictment for allegedly paying off voters.

Hosemann said cleaning up the voting process can help in other areas as well.

"You see time and time again that places that have voter fraud also have problems with the quality of life of their citizens' lives," said Hosemann.

Ultimately, the decision on voter ID will be in the state legislature's hands.
The state is currently waiting on a decision from the 5th Circuit Court in New Orleans on a ruling from Judge Allen Pepper to institute voter ID in the state.

If that ruling is favorable to Judge Pepper's order, the state legislature could be given a deadline to put voter identification in place.