December 14, 2005

New ID law doesn’t need fixing; it needs a burial

By Rep. Quincy Murphy

It has been quite interesting to read in recent weeks that supporters of the voter identification law passed by a majority of the Georgia General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Sonny Perdue earlier this year are seeing the need to revisit the issue and “fix” the legislation in 2006.

It’s interesting because many of us in the legislative minority tried to tell them about the many flaws in the bill, but they didn’t want to listen. They see the need to improve the legislation now only because:

• A federal judge prohibited the state from enforcing the law during the November municipal elections, on the grounds it amounted to an unconstitutional “poll tax.”
• It was reported that staff members of the U.S. Justice Department who had investigated the political motives behind the new law recommended against its approval, only to be overruled by the partisan Bush administration.
• The bill’s House sponsor, who unfortunately is our neighbor from the 119th District, Rep. Sue Burmeister (R-Augusta), was reported to have told Justice Department investigators that voter fraud is rampant in our area and that African Americans vote because they are paid to do so. In initial news coverage, Rep. Burmeister did not deny making those or similar statements. In subsequent reports, she claimed she was misquoted by the Justice Department investigators.

 Because of these embarrassing developments, sponsors of the law now are considering making changes to it when the 2006 legislative session convenes, perhaps to make it more palatable to judges who will rule on its constitutionality. But instead of tweaking the bill here and there, they ought to just put this mistake behind them and start over if they really want to address voter fraud.

U.S. District Judge Harold Murphy properly characterized this new law as a throwback to the “poll tax” that existed prior to the Voting Rights Act, to discourage certain voters from participating in the electoral process. The fees and travel required for many voters to obtain government photo ID cards, especially the elderly and poor, who do not have driver’s licenses would have the same effect that poll taxes had on African American citizens until the mid-1960s.

Supporters of the voter ID legislation claim it would reduce voter fraud at the polls, although there has never been a case of that type of fraud reported in Georgia. The most fertile ground for voter fraud is in the absentee ballot process, and this new law actually expanded the absentee period from 14 to 45 days.

I sincerely hope Judge Murphy ultimately finds Georgia’s new voter ID law the unconstitutional burden to a citizen’s right to vote that it is, and that higher courts agree with him.

The fact is, according to state and local elections officials, the type of fraud the sponsors of House Bill 244 were supposedly targeting is non-existent. According to the experts, there have been no cases or even allegations of individuals using Social Security cards, birth certificates, student ID’s or other types of non-photo identification to vote illegally.

As I stated when the law was first passed, the absentee balloting process hosts the most fertile ground for voter fraud. And HB 244 actually expands the absentee voting period from 14 to 45 days – with no picture ID required. This provision in the new law has the potential to do more to promote voter fraud and promulgate the stuffing of ballot boxes than the legislation will address the imaginary problem of voter ID theft.

No, this legislation doesn’t need a quick fix. It needs a complete rethinking and overhaul before being considered again.