Voters in future elections will now be required to present photo identification before casting a ballot. Mississippi Voter ID cards are now being issued by the Jeff Davis County Circuit Clerk’s office.

The next election for which the ID will be required is the June 3, 2014 Primary Election.

Individuals voting in person by absentee ballot in the Primary Election inside the Circuit Clerk’s office before June 3, 2014, also will be required to show a photo ID.

With more than 62 percent of Mississippi voters approving the new measure, photo identification is now a constitutional requirement. Registered voters who do not have any acceptable form of identification will be required to get a Mississippi Voter ID card.

The following photo IDs may be used:

•  A driver’s license

•  A photo ID issued by a branch, department or entity of the State of Mississippi

•  A United States passport

•  A government employee ID card

•  A firearms license

•  A student photo ID issued by an accredited Mississippi university, college or community/junior college

•  A United States military ID

•  A tribal photo ID

•  Any other photo ID issued by any branch, department, agency or entity of the United States government or any State government

•  A Mississippi Voter Identication card

Voters who need the MS Voter ID card should come into the Circuit Clerks office and have their photo taken at no cost. A form will then be sent into the Secretary of State’s office along with the photo. The ID card will then be mailed back to the voter.

Free transportation will also be provided for any individual who needs assistance getting to the Circuit Clerk’s office.

Circuit Clerk Clint Langley emphasizes that the cards are only for those who have no other acceptable form of identification. “You cannot get a Voter ID card when you have a driver’s license, for instance,” says Langley. “We can check to see if you have other ID.”

Brochures with full details on acquiring a card can be picked up at the Circuit Clerk’s office.

For more information on the photo ID requirement, call the Secretary of State’s hotline at 1-855-868-3745 or visit www.MSVoterID.ms.gov.