As we approach one of the most important elections in modern times, many of us take for granted the basic infrastructure required to hold a constitutional, secure election in our state...
As we approach one of the most important elections in modern times, many of us take for granted the basic infrastructure required to hold a constitutional, secure election in our state. Thousands of poll workers will be needed at the many polling locations across our state. In just a few weeks from now, the July 15th primaries will take place, so we know that the staff in Secretary of State Karen Handel’s office is already hard at work in preparation for the primaries. Without streamlined, secure polling, all sorts of problems can arise, ranging from very late-arriving results to a whole polling location’s ballots being discarded because of poll violations. With this being said, it is shocking that certain individuals in this state have chosen to continue to file frivolous lawsuits to challenge our state’s voter ID law.
The road we’ve taken to secure Georgia’s ballot boxes has been long and arduous. Before 2006, anyone could walk into a voter precinct and present themselves as anyone they wanted to, provided they brought a utility bill or a social security card. For years now, people have stolen mail out of mailboxes, rifled through trash to steal credit card applications, utility bills, etc. This resulted in cases of voter fraud across the state, where over a 20 year period, more than 5,000 dead people voted in Georgia elections. That was unacceptable to the General Assembly, and that is why we passed the voter ID law (Senate Bill 84) in 2006.
And then the court challenges began. Though the General Assembly has addressed every concern the Courts have raised – making free photo identification cards available to every Georgian, even creating mobile photo ID units for those who are unable leave home – there are still those who choose to challenge the constitutionality of any type of voter ID law, no matter what.
In April 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a challenge to Indiana’s voter ID law in the case of Crawford v. Marion County Election Board. At issue was whether Indiana’s requirement that voters show a state-issued photo ID before casting a ballot, with certain exemptions, violated the U.S. Constitution. Approved in 2005, Indiana’s voter ID law is very similar to the voter ID law passed in Georgia. In the Supreme Court’s opinion, Justice John Paul Stevens stated that, “We cannot conclude that the statute (law) imposes excessively burdensome requirements on any class of voter.” The Court also ruled that it is within the duties of a state legislature to modify election laws in an effort to streamline the process, as long as these laws do not “impose a severe and unjustified overall burden upon the right to vote.”
Common sense suggests that the April ruling by the Supreme Court would end this three-year-old debate, but unfortunately for the taxpayers of this state, it did not. On the contrary, the same group of lawyers has again filed a frivolous challenge to the voter ID in Fulton County Court. This time the lawyers have gone venue shopping for a judge that might look upon their claims more favorably. This is not to suggest that any judge would be anything but fair and impartial, but it is another example of how the taxpayers are paying for the political obsessions of a very small group.
The U.S. Supreme Court has spoken loud and clear, stating that voter ID laws are justified and constitutional. For this reason, I fully support the recent complaint filed by the State Elections Division that the latest voter ID lawsuit is frivolous and unwarranted. If the current lawsuit is ruled to be frivolous, at least the state can recoup any court and legal fees. With the July primaries and November elections just around the corner, we need a strong voter ID law to reduce voter fraud and secure our ballot boxes. We need our elections staff focused on making the November elections run as smoothly as possible, and not on wasteful lawsuits in which a small few look to reverse the will of an overwhelming majority of Georgia citizens.