Court Blocks Ga. Photo ID Requirement

[Judi Lynn]

Court Blocks Ga. Photo ID Requirement

By Associated Press
October 27, 2005, 2:20 PM EDT

ATLANTA -- A federal appeals court Thursday refused to let the state enforce a new law requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls.

Earlier this month, a federal judge barred the state from using the law during local elections next month, saying it amounted to an unconstitutional poll tax that could prevent poor people, blacks and the elderly from the voting. The state asked the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to lift the stay, but the court declined.
(snip/...)

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-vot...

[meganmonkey]

1. What? Is that TRIUMPH I see? Is that DEMOCRACY??

I think I am going to faint!

[racaulk]

4. Yeah, and for GEORGIA of all places!!!

Who would have thought?!?!?!

[GarySeven]

14. Just what the hell is that supposed to mean?

Only the Southern states are subject to the voting rights act. You yankee states are free to discriminate and restrict access all you want - and boy, howdy, do you discriminate and restrict access.

[racaulk]

15. Ummm, check my profile...I _live_ in Georgia!

It's too bad the moderators have the avatars turned off right now, or you would have immediately known that. I use the purple Georgia avatar as mine.

I'm just really glad to see that democracy is not being subverted here, is all. It pleases me to know that the state will not be allowed to "discriminate and restrict access" when it comes to voting. My post wasn't a slam on southern states at all--quite the contrary.

Relax, I'm on your side.

[GarySeven]

21. Oh, OK - the yankees on this board have me a might touchy.

As you can see by my avatar, I'm a proud Georgian too.

[AirAmFan]

19. Excellent point! In Indiana, Ohio, and other states using vote suppression

tactics drawn directly from Southern racist history, Democrats should point them out. They should run ads showing footage of voter rights demonstrations from the 60s in Alabama, and tie Republicans nationwide to illegal poll taxes, voter purges, registration harassment, and other forms of vote suppression.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. Good for the courts

of course this will go to SCOTUS. I believe there is a Constitutional Amendment against poll taxes-hope they interpret this GA law as violating that amendment.

[rodeodance]

3. whaw hoooooooo.

[napi21]

5. Do they now have to go back to the old regulations?

I know we used to have a lot of different forms of ID that werre accepted here in Ga. The article doesn't say, but can I assume, as least for the Nov. 05 elections, the rules will revert back to what they were before this new Pub State gov't voted to change them?

[CottonBear]

7. I hope so.

Did you know that the new regs allowed one to use a state student ID card but not one from a private school? I think that was a blatent attempt to disenfranchise black college students at the private colleges and universities in Atlanta.

I am hopeful that this law will be struck down permanently.

Athens is a blue city with lots of students, people without cars (You have to drive several miles to the nearest State Patrol Office) poor people and minorities. We would be really hurt by the proposed Voter ID law.

[napi21]

8. Yep CottonBear, I knew about the school discrimination thing.

I don't know if it was a black/white thing or not. I actually wondered if the State wasn't trying to get more revenue through the back door with this thing. You know, if we forced everybody to pay for a state ID, we'd get at least another $20 from a lot of people!

I'm glad to see that the Feds are shutting them down!

[CottonBear]

9. I hope like hell we can vote Perdue and his fascist gang out of office

ASAP. I can't take much more from the Republicans. They are trying to take over blue Athens now. My congressman, John Barrow, is moving to Savannah because he got redistricted and wants to run against Max Burns not Charlie Norwood. Ew. I wonder if Charlie Norwood is my congressman now? I'll have to check on that.

[napi21]

10. Do you think we can talk Max Cleland into running again?

Personally, I'd like to see him as Senator again, but I'd like him as Gov. too!

[CottonBear]

11. I don't know if he wants to run for office again but I'd vote for him!

He is wonderful and a true American hero and patriot. I'm super pissed off at Cathy Cox because of the Diebold fiasco. I'm not sure about Mark Taylor. I've met both him and Cathy. What do you think of Taylor? I like him personally but I don't know enough about his politics. He's sort of been shut out of government since Perdue came into office.

[napi21]

12. I don't know much about Mark either, but he looks like a better candidate

Cathy. I know, you're not supposed to judge based upon looks, but like it or not, it matters!

I'm not sure we can hold the Dibold thing against Cathy. I know when I first heard about touch screen voting, I was all for it! I've worked in acctg. all my life and with computers for most of it. I'd NEVER want to go back to paper in my job! I really wonder if Cathy didn't believe the same thing?

I admit, after all the BS that has been floated about the voting machines, I never thought of people deliberately sabotoging them! I never had to deal with that in any job, and just didn't think about it.

[Boredtodeath]

6. Better source - Atlanta Journal Constitution

U.S. court backs order suspending voter ID in Ga.

By BILL RANKIN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/27/05

The federal appeals court in Atlanta today denied a request to set aside an injunction barring enforcement of the state's new voter ID requirement in the upcoming municipal elections held statewide.

In a brief order, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a motion by the state Attorney General's Office to throw out a order last week by U.S. District Judge Harold Murphy in Rome that suspended enforcement of the law. The decision was made by 11th Circuit Judges Stanley Birch, Joel Dubina and Frank Hull.

"We are gratified that the court's order sustains the protection of the right of all registered voters in Georgia to vote this vote, whether or not they can pay for a photo ID," said Neil Bradley of the ACLU Voting Rights Project. "We're confident that as the case proceeds in the District Court a final injunction will be issued."

In a flurry of motions last week, state attorneys accused Murphy of wrongly substituting his judgment for that of the state Legislature, and of creating "a constitutional right to vote in person."

Murphy's temporary injunction blocks enforcement of the law, which requires voters to produce their drivers' licenses — or other government-issued photo ID — when requesting a ballot. The judge said the law amounted to an unconstitutional "poll tax." Those without drivers' licenses would have been charged a fee to obtain a state identification card. Murphy also said that the absence of an adequate system for providing the identification cards put an undue burden on the elderly, the poor and the disabled.

State attorneys, who wanted the law back in place for the Nov. 8 municipal elections, said voters who didn't have the proper ID to vote in person could easily qualify for absentee ballots. The AG's Office had asked the 11th Circuit to rule quickly because early voting begins on Oct. 31.

Find this article at:
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/1005/27voterid.h...

[recycledindi]

13. yess

it's a friggin poll tax - plain and simple. glad someone saw it as such and stopped it.

[wildeyed]

16. Oh I am so glad to hear that.

The GA law is a test. If they are successful in getting it passed, we will see similar laws in other republican states.

[xxqqqzme]

17. saved by the skin of our teeth!

what happens after dumb ass ends up appointinG neo-kon hand maidens 2 all these posts? This kind of legislation will be upheld all the way 2 SCOTUS.

[Pacifist Patriot]

18. Wait a minute! Georgia? Very cool.

[bonito]

20. Thank you Georgia !!! n/t

[Moderator]

22. kick

[onehandle]

23. Voter ID Law Is Overturned (Georgia)

Short version:
Racist Georgia GOP loses fight to scare even more African-Americans from polls.
______________________________

Georgia Can No Longer Charge For Access to Nov. 8 Election

In a case that some have called a showdown over voting rights, a U.S. appeals court yesterday upheld an injunction barring the state of Georgia from enforcing a law requiring citizens to get government-issued photo identification in order to vote.

The ruling allows thousands of Georgians who do not have government-issued identification, such as driver's licenses and passports, to vote in the Nov. 8 municipal elections without obtaining a special digital identification card, which costs $20 for five years. In prior elections, Georgians could use any one of 17 types of identification that show the person's name and address, including a driver's license, utility bill, bank statement or a paycheck, to gain access to a voting booth.

Last week, when issuing the injunction, U.S. District Judge Harold L. Murphy likened the law to a Jim Crow-era poll tax that required residents, most of them black, to pay back taxes before voting. He said the law appeared to violate the Constitution for that reason. In the 2004 election, about 150,000 Georgians voted without producing government-issued identification.

"Obviously, we're very pleased with the decision," said Daniel Levitas of the American Civil Liberties Union, which joined the NAACP and other groups in a federal lawsuit against the Georgia law. "It's especially timely to see the federal courts step in to protect the precious rights of voters. This decision confirms our contention that the Georgia ID law poses a constitutional hurdle to the right to vote."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...

[xultar]

24. GOD don't like UGLY!

[kenny blankenship]

25. thank God !

that wasn't just a harbinger of a return to Jim Crow, that was Jim in himself.

[UrbScotty]

26. Never mind, meant to reply to original message (nt)

[UrbScotty]

27. (singing) "Oh Happy Day"