TN High Court Agrees to Hear Voter ID Case, After Election

This is the first presidential election in Tennessee under a new voter ID law. Photo credit Blake Farmer/WPLN

The Tennessee Supreme Court says a Memphis library card will count as voter ID for this election. In an order released Thursday, the high court also said it would hear oral arguments in the politically charged case.

The plaintiffs challenging the state’s voter ID law had hoped to overturn it before Election Day. That won’t happen now, says civil rights attorney George Barrett.

“The Supreme Court did not expedite the case. They said it would be scheduled in the normal course of events.”

Barrett says he still considers the order a victory. Memphis voters will be able to use their library cards with photos as identification at the polls. And the extra time, Barrett says, will allow his side to make a wider argument and challenge the voter ID requirement as a whole.

A similar law in Missouri was recently struck down by that state’s Supreme Court, but voter ID requirements have been upheld in other states.