Judge Blocks Requirement in Georgia for Voter ID
By BRENDA GOODMAN | July 8, 2006
ATLANTA, July 7 - For the second time, a judge has blocked a
Republican-sponsored effort to require Georgia voters to present
government-issued photo identification cards before they can cast a
ballot.
The judge, Melvin K. Westmoreland of Fulton County Superior Court, said
the requirement violated the State Constitution by placing an undue
burden on the fundamental right to vote.
Although the legislature passed the requirement, Judge Westmoreland
said, such a change would require citizens to approve an amendment to
the State Constitution, which now says only that voters must be 18
years old, mentally competent and state residents.
The judge's temporary restraining order was in response to a legal
challenge against the requirement filed by former Gov. Roy E. Barnes, a
Democrat. Mr. Barnes argued that the requirement would make it harder
for minorities, the elderly and the poor to vote.
State officials immediately vowed to appeal the ruling to the Georgia
Supreme Court. Gov. Sonny Perdue, a Republican who signed the measure
into law earlier this year, said it was needed to ensure the integrity
of the ballot box.
"The sad fact is that dead people have cast votes in Georgia and -
before this law is implemented - there was no way to tell how many
deceased voters, felons or even illegal aliens may have been casting
ballots in Georgia elections," Mr. Perdue said.
The law also faces a challenge in federal court, where a consortium of
voter rights groups have sued on the grounds that it also violates the
United States Constitution.
Since it was first passed in March 2005, the voter ID law has whipsawed
between the legislature and the courts, with lawmakers struggling to
find a way to put the measure into effect without violating federal or
state voter protections. Its first version required voters to have a
driver's license or other government ID, or to buy a special state
card.
That law was struck down in October by a federal judge, who said the
requirement that voters buy the card amounted to an unconstitutional
poll tax.
The law was then rewritten by the Republican-led legislature to make
the ID cards free. But the new version continued to draw strong
criticism. Civil rights groups say those who lack a photo
identification are more likely to be black or Hispanic, poor, or
elderly - groups that traditionally cast their ballots for Democratic
candidates.
"The law continues to impose an unnecessary burden on voters and does
nothing to protect against fraud in voting," said Neil Bradley,
associate director of the American Civil Liberties Union Voting Rights
Project in Atlanta. Secretary of State Cathy Cox, a Democrat who
oversees Georgia's elections and who is also vying for the Democratic
nomination for governor, said there had not been a proven case of voter
fraud in the state in nearly a decade. Her office has estimated that
some 676,000 otherwise eligible voters lack a driver's license or
state-issued photo ID.
Without dwelling on the political implications of the law, Judge
Westmoreland agreed with critics who said the legislature had pushed
past constitutional protections in passing the measure.
"The General Assembly has wide latitude to legislate unless it
undertakes to act where the Georgia Constitution enumerates a clear and
unmistakable right to Georgia's citizens," the judge wrote. "It is a
given that any illegal restriction of the fundamental right to vote is
prohibited."
Mr. Perdue said the state's appeal would rest on ballot security. "I
respectfully disagree with Judge Westmoreland and believe that
Georgia's law is not only constitutional, but a common sense, prudent
protection of the election process," he said.
The restraining order means the law will not be in effect for the
state's primaries on July 18. He referred the matter back to state
court for a civil trial.
Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company
.
|
