Amendment 26 has taken main stage as the most controversial issue in this year’s election, but two other amendment proposals, Amendment 27 and Amendment 31, will also appear on the ballot.
Amendment 27 asks the question of whether or not the constitution should be amended to require a person to submit government issued photo identification before voting. Amendment 31 allows voters to decide if the government should be prohibited from taking private property via eminent domain and award it to other individuals, according to information released by Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann and made public on sos.ms.gov/.
Angie McGinnis, circuit clerk of Oktibbeha County, said it is very important for everyone, including college students, to be aware of what voter identification and eminent domain issues mean to citizens.
“State issued IDs would help take care of problems associated with registering to vote outside of one’s hometown … voter registration cards would provide residency proof,” she said. “Eminent domain is important because college students will probably be landowners at some point, and they should take a real serious look at the economic development of the state in the future.”
Chris Walton, Mississippi State University College Democrats president, said he hopes voters will vote “no” to personhood and voter registration, while choosing “yes” to eminent domain.
“These initiatives are extremely important,” he said. “Everybody is concerned with 26, but these are just as important.”
Walton said if passed, these two amendments could have a huge impact on the state for several different reasons. Voter identification could actually hinder the election process instead of helping it, and eminent domain procedures could affect land ownership.
Voter identification requirements will decrease voter turnout and discourage minorities and elderly citizens from utilizing their constitutional right to vote, he said.
 
“If they give out (voter registration cards) to voters, that’s a source of revenue; if not, it will be a poll tax,” Walton said. “It’s costly.”
Eminent domain, as it stands, allows for the government to seize land and transfer it to private entities if it is believed the land would benefit the public, he said. With the initiative, eminent domain reform would prevent private developers from acquiring seized land for 10 years.
Philip Griffin, MSU College Republicans president, said he believes all three amendments will pass on Nov. 8.
“Voter registration (cards) is a no-brainer,” he said. “The government will provide (identification cards) at no cost to anyone.”
Griffin said most conservatives state-wide support these amendments and his group has voted to publicly support all three initiatives.
The website states Amendment 27 would provide all voters without identification with free registration cards and accommodate any voter with religious objection to being photographed so he or she would be allowed to vote as well. The Mississippi Legislative Budget Office released an estimated fiscal analysis projecting a loss of approximately $1.5 million for the Mississippi Department of Public Safety if Amendment 27 is passed.
The eminent domain initiative would exempt drainage and levee facilities, roads, bridges, ports, airports and utilities from the prohibition, according to sos.ms.gov. There would be an exception in specific situations in which the prohibition would not apply, such as cases of public nuisance or abandoned property.