GA Republicans impose nation's toughest voter-identification requirements.

[dajoki]

NYT
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/19/opinion/19wed2.html?t...


Abolishing the Poll Tax Again

Published: October 19, 2005

Critics of Georgia's new voter-identification law, which forces many citizens to pay $20 or more for the documentation necessary to vote, have called it a modern-day poll tax, intended to keep blacks and poor people from voting. A federal judge supported these claims yesterday and blocked the law from taking effect. Instead of continuing to defend the statute in court, Georgia should remove this throwback to the days of Jim Crow from its lawbooks.

Georgia Republicans, who get few votes from African-American voters, pushed a bill through the Legislature this year imposing the nation's toughest voter-identification requirements. When it was passed, most of the state's black legislators walked out of the Capitol. Coretta Scott King, widow of Martin Luther King Jr., urged the governor to veto it. Under the new law, voters with driver's licenses were not inconvenienced. But it put up huge obstacles for voters without licenses, who are disproportionately poor and black. Most of them would have to get official state picture-identification cards and pay processing fees of $20 or more. Incredibly - beyond the cost imposed on such voters - there was not a single office in Atlanta where the identification cards were for sale.

Republicans claimed the law was intended to prevent fraud, but that was just a pretext. According to Georgia's secretary of state, Cathy Cox, in recent years there have been no documented cases of fraud through voter impersonation. There have been complaints about the misuse of absentee ballots, Ms. Cox says, but the new law actually loosened the antifraud protections that apply to them. Clearly, Georgia Republicans supported the law because they believed that making it harder for blacks and poor people to vote would help their electoral chances.

The League of Women Voters of Georgia, the N.A.A.C.P. and other civil rights and voting rights groups sued. In a lengthy and hard-hitting opinion, Judge Harold Murphy of Federal District Court enjoined the state from enforcing the law. He relied in part on the 24th Amendment, which banned the old racist requirement that citizens pay poll taxes before being allowed to vote in federal elections.

[texpatriot2004]

1. I read recently that this was rejected. There was an article in

the LBN or ED/ARTICLES here with the details.

[napi21]

2. It has been halted! Here's link to article from today.

http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/stories/20051019/l...

Comparing Georgia's new voting law to a poll tax, a federal judge has blocked the state from requiring voters to show photo identification to participate in elections.

In a 123-page ruling Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Harold Murphy in Rome said the law is an undue burden on voting rights and is not tailored narrowly enough to serve its stated purpose of preventing voter fraud.

Requiring voters "to purchase a photo ID card effectively places a cost on the right to vote," he said, adding that is the equivalent of a poll tax and is unconstitutional.

The law "is most likely to prevent Georgia's elderly, poor and African-American voters from voting. For those citizens, the character and magnitude of their injury -- the loss of their right to vote -- is undeniably demoralizing and extreme," the judge wrote.

[dajoki]

4. GOOD!!

[...of J.Temperance]

3. Cathy Cox is a Republican, she needs to switch parties

I've not trusted her since she all-out whored for Diebold and babbled about how FABULOUS the Diebold machines were, and that there was NO need to have an auditing system because Diebold was fool proof.

The Georgia Democratic Party needs to kick her ass out.

[RubyDuby in GA]

5. That would require some sort of balls, which they sorely lack

and I know because I'm a state committee member.
They need to get rid of a lot of others before even thinking about bothering to take her to task.

And she's our best chance/hope to get the governor's mansion back in the D column, so let's rethink that kicking out part.

Also, the first to get booted in ZigZag.

[...of J.Temperance]

6. Okay, but

How is Cathy Cox going to win the Governor's Mansion if Georgia's using the Diebold machines? I know that Roy Barnes and Max Cleland were both re-elected, but that Diebold worked it's magic for Perdue and Chambliss, and of course, even though there was evidence of fraud, Cox just stuck her fingers in her ears and pretended that it never happened...did she even look into the "RobGeorgia" thing? No.

The SoS should surely be in a position where she could break open some of those machines and look for the source code.

I like Mark Taylor and Thurbert Baker.

It must be very interesting being a state committee member.

[RubyDuby in GA]

7. You don't think that the poster girl for Diebold hasn't made a deal

with them?


And it's nowhere near as glamorous as it sounds to be a state committee member. Let's all get together for 3 hours and pat each other on the back. Ick!

[...of J.Temperance]

15. But can she trust the snakes?

That's the question.

Oh I bet is IS glamorous, you're just being modest and playing it down

[DaveinMD]

8. Barnes and Cleland were not reelected

this is just too much. They were both fading in the polls and under 50 percent as the election approached.

[RubyDuby in GA]

11. Um, they were polling well above Perdue and Chambliss

and exit polls had them with a substantial lead as well.

They did win. Diebold saw it differently though.

[...of J.Temperance]

14. Barnes and Cleland were ALWAYS ahead, the Pukes NEVER led ONCE

In any poll...except the Diebold poll on election night. Barnes and Cleland were both in the 50s in the polls.

To believe that the Pukes won, one has to believe that both Perdue and Chambliss ON ELECTION DAY got a 17 point swing to them. And I'm sorry, but that's just TOO much to take for me to believe that. There were hardly any undecideds, and the whores expect me to believe that Barnes and Cleland's previously SOLID support just switched over to Perdue and Chambliss at the last minute.

I think not.

The Georgia Diebold machines had a patch and it was called "RobGeorgia" and you can't get more in yer face than that.

[DaveinMD]

17. their leads were bleeding the entire time

and as incumbents were polling under 50 percent in the last week. The right wing Democrats have been becoming Republicans in Georgia and throughout the south.

[ay3100]

19. nonsense...

Plenty of dems have been elected statewide, not to mention the agency that runs the elections is run by dems...

[napi21]

9. Thanks Ruby for saying that. I'm sure not impressed by the Dems

in Ga! My last favorite was Max Cleland!!!! I'm still hoping he will run again! I think he'd win back his Senate seat!!!!

I also think Cox is out best hope to win the Gov. back. I WNAT IT BACK!!!!

Sonny is a kiss a** PIA and all the idiots he brought in with him are too!

[Humor_In_Cuneiform]

10. Georgia was one of the first states that was famous for

involvement in the Diebold fiasco.

They found , Bev found a file among the Diebold files called something like "RobGeorgia" from an earlier election.

I believe they had all touch screen machines, no paper ballots, in the last election.

[RethugAssKicker]

12. Correct .. al ** machines... no paper ballots.

[...of J.Temperance]

16. Don't forget, Georgia HADN'T had a GOP Governor since Reconstruction

Georgia hadn't had a Puke Governor since Reconstruction...until Diebold worked it's magic without a paper trail, without an audit, and then by a miracle, Georgian's SUDDENLY woke up to their first Puke Governor in well over 100 years...even though Sonny Perdue had NEVER led in ONE SINGLE POLL during the election, even though Perdue was nearly nine points BEHIND Roy Barnes days BEFORE the election.

Nine points, the mediawhores said it was "too close to call", I remember them saying this. "Too close to call" = "Close enough for our Nazi loverboys to steal"

Absolutely amazing isn't it

[Humor_In_Cuneiform]

18. Yes, amazing things happen with those new fangled voting

machines.

Like in Nebraska, they used E&S voting machines for the first time in the election that took Hagel into the Senate as the first Republican in 20 or more years.

It was of course purely coincidental that Hagel had been a part owner of E & S.

[ay3100]

21. if not electronics what?

Since when have dems opposed progress, how long are we suppose to languish in the 19th century?

[...of J.Temperance]

23. Dunno, afterall, the Republican's are taking us back to the 16th Century

So after we're through the 16th Century, we can start worrying about what we're going to do in the 19th Century.

[Name removed]

25. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[...of J.Temperance]

27. I did suspect that mon amie

So I made my tongue-in-cheek, but ironically CORRECT 16th Century statement

And considering those Freepers understand neither tongue-in-cheek or irony, I suppose the poor lamb has now gone away terribly confused

On edit: I'm impressed that one correctly spelled "languish", because as we know some of them have difficulty spelling "hugh". So spelling "languish" correctly in itself is pretty "hugh"

[dajoki]

29. you are correct about 16th century and...

he's probably back in his corner pouting.

[...of J.Temperance]

31. You know

The poor things aren't thinking straight what with their Tom Delay shock today

Yes, the 2005 GOP, dedicated to taking the world back to the Middle Ages.

[dajoki]

33. yes...

and major indictments(i hope) on the way. can hardly blame the poor bastards.

[...of J.Temperance]

24. Yes, truly amazing things

And didn't Chuck Nagel EVEN win in an area where 90% of the population was black?

But as you say, it's ALL just a coincidence.

[Humor_In_Cuneiform]

26. LOL! Not sure of the demographics, but you know when you have

control of the voting machines and tabulators, you can create "miracles" with the click of a mouse.

[...of J.Temperance]

32. Agreed, and EVERY one of those "miracles"

Strangely enough benefits ONLY the Republican candidate. It's just like magic.

[ay3100]

20. barnes lost because he was an idiot...

stop reading so many comics, diebold no more got perdue elected than the ghost of christmas past

[RethugAssKicker]

13. Thank God for this reversal.

The Georgia Legislature is a racist , homphobic bunch of F**ing assholes. They tried to lie to us and say it was for voter fraud.

THERE WAS NOT ONE CASE OF VOTER FRAUD REPORTED IN GEORGIA!!!

It was all about trying to reduce democratic votes. They knew it and we knew it... The only people who were fooled was the MSM! Thank God for that ACTIVIST judge!!

Oh BTW... abseent ballots were not subject to the new rule!!!... fucking bastards. They didn't want the absentee ballots to be subject to it because most absentee ballots are from rethuglicans..

WHAT A BUNCH OF FUCKING BASTARDS!

[dajoki]

22. will that judges ruling hold?

[Laelth]

28. It should.

Voting rights are protected at strict scrutiny. Voting is a crucial element of our "ordered liberty." The judge ruled that the state does have a compelling interest in reducing voting fraud, but that this law (must have a photo ID) is not necessarily related to this state interest. Since there have been no reported cases of fraud for in person voting, it's not reasonable to restrict the right of some people to vote.

I think this opinion is very sound. It should stand.

-Laelth

[dajoki]

30. that's good to know. thanks n/t