The Mississippi Republican Party's investment of time and money in a voter identification initiative has likely improved the odds the proposal will make it to the ballot.

Contentious debate over voter ID has been a legislative distraction for a while. Each year, bills are filed calling for voters to present photo ID when they cast ballots. The legislation is debated, usually in rancorous tones, but dies by session's end.

Lawmakers came close to reaching a deal in the 2009 session, but the measure was killed by Senate Republicans. One of them, Sen. Joey Fillingane of Sumrall, later filed an initiative petition with the secretary of state's office to let voters decide whether presenting ID at the polls should be required. The petition needs about 100,000 signatures by Oct. 1 to be placed on next year's general election ballot.

Behind-the-scenes work by Republicans came to the forefront earlier this month when state GOP chairman Brad White began a tour to promote the initiative. Republicans already had been planning private fundraisers, trying to generate $200,000 for the effort.

In addition to the public appeal, there are tens of thousands of names of Mississippians in the GOP's voter file who will undoubtedly be asked to sign the petition.

Most opponents of voter ID contend it's unnecessary because there's no widespread evidence of people voting under fictitious names or assumed identities. They say the requirement could discourage the elderly and those who don't have driver's licenses from trying to vote and become a means for intimidation at the polls. Opponents also bristle at the idea because they say it's reminiscent of the poll taxes and literacy exams of the Jim Crow era.

White said voter ID is supported by Democrats and Republicans, blacks and whites. He's right. This year's proposal even had support from some black legislators who've traditionally balked at voter ID.

But Republicans would appear to have another motive to rush the measure to the ballot next year: it's a way to drive turnout.

State Sen. Alan Nunnelee, R-Tupelo, has announced his intention to seek the GOP nomination in Mississippi's 1st Congressional District, challenging U.S. Rep. Travis Childers, a Democrat, in the 2010 election. Childers is serving his first full term.

Nunnelee is at a disadvantage in challenging an incumbent.

"If they really work this, they can make this a cause for the Republicans, where they up the Republican turnout and they're really looking at the 1st District," said Marty Wiseman, director of the Stennis Institute of Government at Mississippi State University.

"The general rule of thumb in the 1st District, or anywhere, is if you're going to beat a House incumbent, you've got to do it in the first term. Otherwise you build up too much seniority and they put their roots down in the district," Wiseman said.

The 2001 state flag election is an example of how much a racially divisive issue can drive turnout. More than 756,000 voters cast ballots in that election, the only statewide issue on the ballot. In the 2007 gubernatorial race between incumbent Republican Gov. Haley Barbour and Democrat John Arthur Eaves drew 744,039 voters and there were several other races on the ballot.

Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, a Republican whose office oversees Mississippi elections, proposed ID legislation last session. Hosemann said he's glad to see it's now an initiative petition.

"It's been pushed for probably 10 or 12 years now. And we just haven't been able to get to home base on it," Hosemann said. "We have a process where citizens think something is so important that they rise and push when you have a deadlock in the legislative process."

Shelia Byrd covers politics and other issues of statewide interest. She is based in Jackson.