[10/13/04]Warren County election officials say they will hire additional poll workers to prepare for the first election under a new state voter-identification law and an anticipated record turnout.

Plans are for up to 20 percent more workers to be hired for the Nov. 2 election, Warren County Election Commission Chairman Johnny Brewer said.

One reason is that voters and officials will be dealing for the first time with the law that requires poll workers to ask for one of six forms of identification, but only from first-time voters who registered by mail and whose registration records have not already been verified.

Statewide, about 70,000 voter-registration forms were received by mail at county circuit clerk’s offices between Jan. 1, 2003, and Oct. 6, Secretary of State’s Office officials said Tuesday.

Of those, about 30,000 records have been verified against state driver’s-license records and voters will not need to present identification at polls, they added.

The remaining about 40,000 new mail-in registrants, though, may be required to present identification at polls. Postcards have been mailed to those registrants informing them of the new law. The number is about 2 percent of registered voters in the state.

Voters may also preverify their registration records before election day, Nov. 2, by presenting identification at their circuit clerk’s office.

No ID is required in Mississippi for any other voters except to state their names and sign in when receiving a ballot.

The valid forms of ID are:

A current and valid form of photo identification, such as a driver’s license.

A current utility bill with the voter’s name and address.

A bank statement with the voter’s name and address.

A government check with the voter’s name and address.

A paycheck with the voter’s name and address.

Any other government document that shows the voter’s name and address.

Those who will be asked to verify new voter-registration records on election day, if they are not able to present an acceptable form of identification, may vote by an alternate method, casting an affidavit ballot. Such ballots are to be counted as long as the voter is voting in the correct precinct.

The possibility that that provision will result in increased voting by affidavit ballot has led the Secretary of State’s Office to recommend an increase in election-day staffing by county officials.

“We’re going to be putting on more,” Brewer said of the poll-worker staff. “It looks like a larger-than-normal turnout.”

The extra help may be needed since additional measures are required to verify the validity of affidavit ballots after polls close, Brewer added.

Polls are to be open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.

The voter-identification law was passed by the Legislature. It was required to comply with the federal Help America Vote Act that was passed in 2002, following problems with vote-counting during the 2000 presidential election.

The act refers specifically to federal elections, but because state and federal elections are usually conducted simultaneously, it will impact almost all Mississippi elections.

Most initial estimates predict that Mississippi will receive a total of about $34 million in federal funds over three years to offset costs of complying with the law.

Warren County has about 33,000 registered voters. Record numbers of new registrations were reportedly being received just before the Oct. 1 deadline to vote in this year’s general election.

In addition to presidential candidates, voters here will have choices in electing their 2nd District U.S. congressman, two state Supreme Court justices, school-board trustees representing two Warren County districts and an election commissioner representing District 3.