Hamilton County Commissioner Greg Beck, left, and Commissioner Warren Mackey are asking the Hamilton County Commission to back a repeal of the Tennessee Voter ID law.TO GET AN IDHamilton County Clerk Bill Knowles began offering free upgrades for those with non-photo driver’s licenses on Oct. 17. Between then and Thursday, about 140 people had taken advantage of that service, he said.The state Department of Safety is opening its two Hamilton County Driver Services Centers the first Saturday of each month to provide IDs for voting purposes only.
Two Hamilton County commissioners pleaded with other members of their body Thursday to ask the state Legislature to repeal the voter ID law it passed earlier this year.
Though commissioners will not vote on the resolution until Wednesday, they discussed the matter in an agenda session Thursday.
Commissioners Greg Beck and Warren Mackey asked the others to help repeal the law.
The federal government is spending billions of dollars fighting wars in places such as Iraq to give citizens of those countries the right to vote, Beck said. Yet soldiers from Tennessee returning home might see their own grandparents turned away at the polls because they don’t have the proper ID, he said.