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Georgia's 'voter fraud' fraud

Georgia's crackdown on voter fraud would be more credible if it actually pursued fraud. But the new requirement for photo IDs at the polls does nothing to address absentee ballots, where there is considerable evidence of abuse. Instead it burdens the poor and elderly and mostly black voters who have no drivers' licenses, which is why it is impossible to ignore the poisonous politics at play.

The bill was rushed through the Republican-controlled General Assembly this spring over the strenuous objections of African-American lawmakers, some of whom walked out in protest. It was signed into law by a Republican governor, Sonny Perdue, who called it merely a "common sense step to ensure voter integrity and sound elections."

The funny thing is, Georgia Secretary of State Cathy Cox, a Democrat, reports no cases of documented identity fraud at the polls.

The law will have an undeniably disparate impact on voters. Among Georgians, blacks are nearly five times less likely than whites to have a driver's license. The only photo ID card deemed acceptable would be issued by the state, at a cost of $20, at only 58 different locations across a state with 159 counties (Perdue says the fee will be waived for those who sign an affidavit claiming poverty). If the state's intentions were pure, there would be many more sites to obtain a photo ID card - and the card would be free.

Just more than a decade ago, the Clinton Justice Department rejected a less onerous photo ID requirement in Louisiana, arguing that it was "likely to have a disproportionately adverse impact on black voters." But last month the Bush Justice Department approved the new Georgia law, arguing that it would have "no negative purpose or effect . . . on the turnout of any voters." So why did Georgia previously allow 17 different ways for voters to verify their identity?

The photo ID provision that Georgia adopted is the most restrictive in the nation, but the Justice Department approval invites other states to follow suit. States do have an obligation to police their election systems and to enact laws and oversight to assure their integrity. But the Georgia remedy is so conspicuously tailored that it can't help but raise the specter of race. Four decades after the Voting Rights Act was first adopted, the nation can do without that ugly fight again.

[Last modified September 24, 2005, 01:09:02]