JACKSON -- Politicians have to fight about something.

Most is quiet in Mississippi so politicians decided it would be good to create a controversy over voter identification.

State Republican Party Chair Joe Nosef sent out a news release Thursday criticizing the U.S. Department of Justice for not approving Mississippi's new law requiring people to display a government-issued photo ID in time for Tuesday's elections.

Nosef is a smart and nice guy, but he should know the state Legislature did not appropriate any money to enact the voter ID law even if the Justice Department had approved it. The law calls for installing cameras in courthouses where voters can go to obtain a photo ID. Plus, the state is supposed to pay for the IDs.

Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann said way back in June that most likely voter ID could not be enacted in time for the November elections.

Even if the Justice Department had approved it, the state had not taken the steps to enact it.

In other words, to criticize the Justice Department at this point seems a little "political."

The current rift began Wednesday when Republican Gov. Phil Bryant encouraged people to voluntarily show ID at the polls Tuesday. State Democratic Party Chair Rickey Cole said Bryant's comments would confuse voters.

Maybe that is true. Maybe it is not. Voters might be smarter than many people think.

But the fact is at this point it is much ado about nothing. If people had been paying attention, they would have known a long time ago that there would be no voter ID requirements for this year's  elections.