Justice Department approves Georgia voter verification system

[depakid]

The Justice Department has ended nearly two years of court battles, giving final approval to Georgia's system of verifying voters' identity and citizenship. n response to the decision by the Obama administration, Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp's office has joined the Justice Department in filing a motion with the federal district court in Washington to dismiss a lawsuit Kemp filed in June seeking preclearance of the verification system.

The Justice Department's decision came after the state said last week that it would change the scope of the program.

“I am glad the DOJ ultimately recognized the importance of ensuring a secure elections process in Georgia and consented to the Section 5 approval of Georgia’s voter verification process," Kemp said in a statement. "As Georgia’s chief elections officer, my job is to ensure secure, fair and accessible elections for every Georgia citizen who is eligible to vote. Every ballot cast by a noncitizen erases a ballot cast by an eligible Georgia voter.”

But opponents of the system, many of whom had joined the lawsuit to fight the state's position, questioned the Justice Department's decision and were flummoxed by Attorney General Eric Holder's move.

More: http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-politics-elections/justice-department-approves-georgia-597868.html

[flpoljunkie]

1. Reading this article, perhaps this is why...

But McDonald said it could be that the Justice Department decided to preclear the Georgia program to avoid a worse fate in court. The state's lawsuit said if the court found its system allowable under the Voting Rights Act, that it should also rule all of Section 5 unconstitutional. The Obama administration probably didn't want to take the chance of that happening, he said.

"That obviously was something that drove the decision," McDonald said. "The Department of Justice and others were concerned what this would do if it was given an opportunity to rehear a case like this."

http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-politics-elections/justice-department-approves-georgia-597868.html

[depakid]

2. That's certainly a consideration

Meanwhile...