By Agnes Wilkerson Dalton

Guest Columnist 

This time we will discuss the Voter Registration Card mailed to you once your registration is filed in the Circuit Clerk’s office.

This card will not serve as an ID at the voting precinct but supplies you with vital information. You must make sure your name and address are correct and that they match the photo ID you will use to vote. Also on this card is your county precinct. This section tells you the name and location of the precinct where you vote. You cannot vote in any other location. If you try, you will be given a paper ballot and your vote will not count. If your name or address changes after you receive the card, you must notify the Circuit Clerk’s office immediately so a new card can be issued.

At the bottom of the card are blocks with initials and numbers. This information tells your Mississippi senatorial district, representative district, chancery judge district, circuit judge district, supervisor district, justice court judge district, school district and school board district. Use this information to make sure you are voting on the proper ballot at the polls.

Beginning June 3 2014, the primary election for U.S. Senate and House of Representatives seats, Mississippi will require photo ID for everyone wanting to vote. The 10 forms of acceptable ID’s are: Mississippi driver’s license, photo ID card issued by an entity of the state, U.S. passport, government employee’s ID card, firearms license, student ID by an accredited Mississippi university/college/community college, U.S. military ID, tribal photo ID, a photo ID issued by an entity of the U.S. or any state government, or Mississippi voter ID card.

If you do not have one of these 10 ID’s, then one will be provided for you free of charge. You will have to go the Circuit Clerk’s office in the Poplarville courthouse. If you do not have transportation, call the clerk’s office and transportation will be provided free of charge.

At the clerk’s office you will have to show some form of identification. It can be an expired photo ID of any of the 10 approved ID’s no more that 10 years old. The old ID must have the name and photo of the voter and was validly issued by the federal or state government. If you have no form of ID, the clerk may verify your birth certificate free of charge provided you supply your date and state of birth, and your mother’s maiden name. If the election is within 45 days, you will be given a receipt that you may use to vote. If you are confused, contact the clerk’s office.

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”

— Barack Obama

Agnes is the Democratic Party Chairperson for Pearl River County.