Groups angered by voter ID law

Several voting rights organizations filed a lawsuit in federal court Monday against the state of Georgia, claiming that a recent House bill requiring citizens to present photo identification when they vote is unconstitutional at the state and federal level.

"The requirement in Georgia that you have to have a photo ID is definitely regressive for a variety of reasons," said Daniel Levitas, Ira Glasser Racial Justice Fellow with the American Civil Liberties Union's voting rights project. "It amounts to a modern day poll tax."

ACLU is providing legal counsel to the plaintiffs in the case.

Georgia officials contend that an official ID is not an onerous requirement.

"Gov. (Sonny) Perdue feels it is entirely reasonable to show a photo ID to cast a ballot," said Heather Hedrick, Perdue's press secretary.

"You have to show an ID when purchasing alcohol and cigarettes," she said. "People in today's society must have an ID, and voting is exceedingly more important than any of the other things."

Hedrick said that the state has started a mobile licensing program, with a bus driving around the state to issue free photo IDs to citizens who do not have driver's licenses.

"We're proactively putting IDs into people's hands," she said.

Levitas said the law still does not address the time it takes to go get an ID or fully define who is eligible for free cards.

Hedrick said the same information that is usually found on a driver's license will be included on the free photo IDs.

Georgia and Indiana are the only states with a photo ID regulation.

But if lawmakers follow the recommendations of an American University-organized commission, the practice could be implemented nationwide.

The Carter-Baker commission, headed by former President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, advised that for national elections, all citizens should present a photo ID.

The concern with the idea, voting rights advocates say, is that it could seriously disenfranchise poor, elderly and minority citizens.

"It's a wrong-headed proposal, a chilling effect on voter participation and access to the ballot," Levitas said.

"Making the photo ID a requirement diminishes voting participation and further disenfranchises voters who already have difficulty participating," he added.

But the commission held that a photo ID requirement would enhance ballot integrity.

"Elections are at the heart of our democracy," Carter said in the press release. "The American people are losing confidence in the system, and they want electoral reform."

Levitas said the recommendation is a reversal from 2001, when a Carter-Ford commission found that requiring identification for voting would be discriminatory.

ACLU also takes issue with the possibility of a privacy invasion because the cards could include Social Security numbers, he said.

"The Carter-Baker commission proposal is fraught with problems, including various complications that arise when you try to issue national ID cards in a nation where most forms of IDs are given locally."

 

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.