Woot! DOJ rejects Georgia voter verification requirements

[Melissa G]

:bounce:

Check out Daily Buzz at http://www.quorumreport.com/

Wednesday, June 03, 2009

DOJ rejects Georgia voter verification requirements
Eszter Bardi at 8:18 AM ET


The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has rejected Georgia's system of voter citizenship verification by way of a Social Security and driver's license database. In a letter released Monday, Acting Assistant Attorney General Loretta King told Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker that the proposed changes are discriminatory. Referring to Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 , King wrote:


We have carefully considered the information you have provided, as well as information from other interested parties. Under Section 5, the Attorney General must determine whether the submitting authority has met its burden of showing that the proposed change "neither has the purpose nor will have the effect" of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race, color or membership in a language minority group. As discussed further below, I cannot conclude that the state has sustained its burden in this instance. Therefore, based on the information available to us, I must object to the voter verification program, on behalf of the Attorney General.


Georgia sought the DOJ's decision after a federal court enjoined the voting practices in October in the ongoing Morales v. Handel election litigation.

In January, the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit upheld a separate Georgia law that requires voters to present government-issued photo identification at the polls in order to vote. The suit was filed by two elderly voters in Georgia, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) , and other civil rights groups that argued that the legislation makes it difficult for minorities, the elderly, and the impoverished to participate in elections. Georgia's controversial voter ID law has been enforced since the Georgia's September 18 Special Elections in September 2008.


Daily buzz at
http://www.quorumreport.com/

[sonias]

1. K&R for sanity at DOJ finally

Here is a related article from Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Atlanta Journal-Constitution 6/02/09
Feds rip Georgia voter system
U.S. Justice: Citizenship checks flawed, racial.Ga. secretary of state defends process that riles immigrant groups.

By Aaron Gould Sheinin
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tuesday, June 02, 2009

As a coalition of pro-immigration groups rallied at the state Capitol on Monday, Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel was reacting to a U.S. Justice Department repudiation of her system of verifying citizenship of voters.

In a six-page letter issued last week, and released Monday, Justice Department lawyers said Handel’s office had created a system that “does not produce accurate and reliable information and that thousands of citizens who are in fact eligible to vote under Georgia law have been flagged.”

Handel was not pleased. The decision, she said, “shows a shocking disregard for the integrity of our elections.”

I love the sound of justice ripping through racism!

:bounce::bounce::bounce:

Sonia

[pleah]

2. K&R

[kath]

3. I'm confused -

It says that "in January, the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit upheld a separate Georgia law that requires voters to present government-issued photo identification at the polls in order to vote." Are their two separate laws involved here? Will GA voters still have to present govt-issued photo ID? Is it just voter "citizenship verification" that has been rejected?
Sorry, tried but couldn't get info from the link.

They keep trying and trying to get a voter ID law passed in OK, but the guv vetoed it - next I think they're going to put it to a referendum vote. ARGH.

[sonias]

4. Yes these are two separate laws in Georgia

The photo photo ID (aka the voter suppression bill) in GA was approved by the Bush DOJ and that went into effect after many court battle in the fall of 2008. We just survived our 3rd session in Texas killing a similar voter suppression bill this session. Yea Texas!

This past year GA went even further by requiring people to prove their citizenship in order to register to vote and remain on the voter rolls. Lots of problems with that implementation as discussed in the articles because people may not have those forms even though they are eligible citizen voters of the U.S. That's the law that the Obama DOJ and holder put on hold. Not so fast GA!

I feel for you on the referendum vote. A lot of voters do not understand the implications and this issue gets quickly framed by the Reich wing as "common sense". You've heard the arguments "Everybody has an ID these days. "You can't cash a check, rent a video, get on a plane blah, blah, blah...". You can actually get on a plane without an ID. You get more a more thorough search and questioning procedure but it is available. You can also rent a video without an ID at Blockbuster. But that's beside the point. Renting a video and flying are not fundamental rights in our Democracy.

We've been trying to re-frame this debate as what it really is - voter suppression. Plain and simple. Most of the states implementing these added hurdles to voting are already the lowest voter turnout states in the country. Our democracy is already on life support in these states due to low voter turnout. And the Rs like it that way. Texas ranks 46th in voter turnout and 42nd in voter registration. Shaving off 3-5 % points is the goal for the Rs. They want to keep their power for a few more years (or decades) if they win on the redistricting fight. That's why it was so crucial to stop them.

Sonia