Georgia voter-ID statute assailed
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Finally, some common sense voter identification measures are passed -- after review by the Justice department -- and of course the reaction among the usual suspects (ooops, I mean citizens, minorities, etc., I don't mean to use the word "suspect" as if I'm accussing someone of a crime) is to start howling that it's not fair, is discriminatory, and will disenfranchise voters.
Sorry, I don't buy those arguments at all. I wish that the U.S. House and Senate would pass a similar law so that we'd have nationwide standards.
Anyway, original article clip follows. Headline is linked.
Georgia voter-ID statute assailed
By Brian DeBose
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
September 4, 2005
A new voter-identification law in Georgia that recently was approved by the Justice Department has angered civil rights groups, which say it will disenfranchise blacks, the elderly and rural voters.
State legislators said the new law requiring voters to present a photo identification, such as a driver's license or a state school ID, will prevent voter fraud and keep noncitizens from voting.
"We just thought that it was a common-sense measure, given a pattern of voter fraud over time in Georgia," said state Senate Majority Leader Bill Stephens, a Republican. "Our existing law that was in place allowed for 17 different forms of so-called 'identification.'"
Mr. Stephens cited investigations showing numerous instances of voter fraud, including a 1998 state Senate election in which election officials "miraculously" discovered 151 previously uncounted ballots three days after the Democratic incumbent was defeated.
Black lawmakers and civil rights organizations decried the measure as something that will hurt black voters and as a Republican strategy to maintain majority control of state legislatures.
"It is a national scheme to keep people from voting," said state Rep. Tyrone Brooks, a Democrat and president of the Georgia Association of Black Elected Officials. The organization of more than 800 officials walked out of the Statehouse to protest the bill's passage.
In drafting the legislation, Republicans ignored the absentee-ballot process "where the real fraud is," Mr. Brooks said. "Republicans turn out a huge portion of their vote through absentee ballots, and it has become a mechanism to drive up their vote."
... more at linked article
And btw, I should note that I'm very disappointed that this measure doesn't address absentee voting as well. I don't care who either side believes is helped by absentee voting, a vote is a vote, and any vote that is made should be verifiable as the one vote that a voter is entitled to. No one deserves to vote multiple times through cheating the system. One man (or one woman), one vote. Period.
Sorry, I don't buy those arguments at all. I wish that the U.S. House and Senate would pass a similar law so that we'd have nationwide standards.
Anyway, original article clip follows. Headline is linked.
Georgia voter-ID statute assailed
By Brian DeBose
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
September 4, 2005
A new voter-identification law in Georgia that recently was approved by the Justice Department has angered civil rights groups, which say it will disenfranchise blacks, the elderly and rural voters.
State legislators said the new law requiring voters to present a photo identification, such as a driver's license or a state school ID, will prevent voter fraud and keep noncitizens from voting.
"We just thought that it was a common-sense measure, given a pattern of voter fraud over time in Georgia," said state Senate Majority Leader Bill Stephens, a Republican. "Our existing law that was in place allowed for 17 different forms of so-called 'identification.'"
Mr. Stephens cited investigations showing numerous instances of voter fraud, including a 1998 state Senate election in which election officials "miraculously" discovered 151 previously uncounted ballots three days after the Democratic incumbent was defeated.
Black lawmakers and civil rights organizations decried the measure as something that will hurt black voters and as a Republican strategy to maintain majority control of state legislatures.
"It is a national scheme to keep people from voting," said state Rep. Tyrone Brooks, a Democrat and president of the Georgia Association of Black Elected Officials. The organization of more than 800 officials walked out of the Statehouse to protest the bill's passage.
In drafting the legislation, Republicans ignored the absentee-ballot process "where the real fraud is," Mr. Brooks said. "Republicans turn out a huge portion of their vote through absentee ballots, and it has become a mechanism to drive up their vote."
... more at linked article
And btw, I should note that I'm very disappointed that this measure doesn't address absentee voting as well. I don't care who either side believes is helped by absentee voting, a vote is a vote, and any vote that is made should be verifiable as the one vote that a voter is entitled to. No one deserves to vote multiple times through cheating the system. One man (or one woman), one vote. Period.
