MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WMOT) -- Tennessee’s voter photo ID law is almost a year old, but the new requirements are still stirring controversy.
The measure will be the subject of what organizers are calling a "Voter Suppression Town Hall Meeting" planned for Thursday evening in Nashville.
Passed by the Republican controlled Tennessee legislature last June, the new law requires that voters present a state or federal photo ID before being allowed to cast a ballot.
Michael Scarver of the United Steel Workers Union is helping organize tonight’s forum. He says the cost of Tennessee’s new voter photo ID law makes little sense.
“The state is going to take on this burden utilizing tax dollars to provide free ID, and the state at the same time is saying they don’t have enough money to fund our educational programs in the state. They have created a solution that’s lookin’ for a problem.”
The NAACP, The League of Women Voters, the ACLU, Tennessee Action, The United Steel Workers and the Ministerial Alliance are joining forces to host tonight’s forum. The meeting begins at 5:30 pm. in Nashville at the Fifteenth Ave. Baptist Church.