Driver center adds hours
Open first Saturdays in Oct., Nov. for voter IDS
NASHVILLE — State officials announced plans Thursday to open eight driver service centers, including one in Memphis, on the fi rst Saturdays of October and November to give citizens more opportunities to get photo identification cards required for voting in the November election.
Also Thursday, t he City of Memphis f iled a motion i n Davidson County Chancery Court for an expedited hearing next week on its lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the voter-photo ID requirement. Arguing that many registered voters in Memphis and elsewhere will be blocked from voting in November for lack of approved photo IDs, the city is asking the court for a temporary injunction to block the state from enforcing the photo ID requirements for voting until state officials can establish they have provided IDs to all registered voters.
Attorneys for the city asked for a hearing to be set for Sept. 14, but Chancellor Carol McCoy has not acted on the request yet
he eight centers will open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Oct. 6 and Nov. 3, but only for issuing voter photo IDs and converting non-photo driver’s licenses into photo driver’s licenses, the Tennessee Department of Safety & Homeland Security announced. No other services will be available at the select centers on those days. There is no charge for the voter IDs.
In Shelby County, only the driver service center at 3200 E. Shelby Drive will open on the two Saturdays. However, registered voters without any of the government-issued photo IDs approved for
voting purposes may obtain the voter photo IDs at the three other driver service centers in Shelby County during their regular business hours — 8 a. m. to 5 p. m. Mondays through Fridays. They are at 3040 Walnut Grove, 6340 Summer and 5019 W. Union Road in Millington. They are also available at the limited-service License Reinstatement Center in Hickory Ridge Mall during its regular business hours on weekdays.
People entering the service centers to get a voter photo ID should inform the center staff, and they will be placed in an “express service” line, department spokeswoman Jennifer Donnals said.
Donnals said the department chose the East Shelby drive location as opposed to the more central Walnut Grove location for the Saturday openings because “the East Shelby Drive location is much larger and has sufficient parking.”
Groups or organizations planning to make a group visit to a driver service center in West Tennessee should schedule an appointment by calling Rochelle Bryant at 931-242-7282.
The other stations open on the two Saturdays are in Jackson, Dresden, Nashville, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Cookeville and Johnson City.