Fed court temporarily bars Georgia from enforcing voter ID law

[MaineDem]

Fed court temporarily bars Georgia from enforcing voter ID law

Associated Press


ATLANTA, Ga. - A federal court has temporarily barred Georgia from
enforcing a new state law requiring voters to show photo
identification
at the polls.

In granting a preliminary injunction Tuesday, U.S. District Court
Judge
Harold Murphy in Rome, Ga., agreed with critics who claimed the law
amounted to an unconstitutional poll tax.

The U.S. Justice Department approved the law in August, saying that
while Attorney General Alberto Gonzales didn't object to the state's
voter ID requirement the federal agency's approval didn't preclude
lawsuits against it.

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/georgia/news-article.aspx?storyid=45882

Sorry, I lost the original link. Duhhh

[Debau2005]

1. YEAH!

We have been working hard here in GA to get this thing stopped! This is a minor victory, but a victory none the less.

[napi21]

2. That's GREAT NEWS!

I live in GA. and, although I have a State ID, it did cost me $35.

I could have renewed it online for 5 years at a cost of $24 (I think). It was $34 for 10 years but you have to do it in person.

I can sure understand, if someone is on a fixed income, and have to stretch every penny, that $24 is a lot!!!

[3waygeek]

14. Renewed my GA DL online Sunday evening

$15 for 5 years, $30 for 10 years.

[CottonBear]

3. Wow! I am a happy Georgian today!

This law is so wrong and should be overturned. Election Fraud is the issue, not voter fraud. :woohoo:

[AX10]

4. Some of we Notherners should be in charge of the voting process...

in Georgia. There is no one in Georgia government worthy of trust, these days.

[RepublicanElephant]

5. sec of state cathy cox seems to be trying.

she's also running for gov next year. you can bet she wants fair elections!

[CottonBear]

7. She got us into this Diebold mess. It's her Tar Baby so to speak.

GA was the first state in the nation to go 100% Diebold. :(
Republicans took over soon afterward and we lost Max Cleland.

Max was SoS prior to Cathy being elected to that position.

[Boredtodeath]

23. Yes, it is her tar baby, but...

You have your facts just a little wrong. Max was SoS and brought Cathy Cox into the office as an employee (election director), but when he won his senate seat, Lewis Massey was elected as SoS in 1996 to replace Max. Massey then ran against Barnes for Governor in 1998 and ended up in a runoff, which he then withdrew from "for the good of the party." Cathy Cox ran for and was elected SoS in 1998 when Massey gave up the office during his run for Governor.

Oh, and lest you get the idea Massey is a good guy, he is part of a lobbying firm in GA now, and is the paid lobbyist for Diebold.

[CottonBear]

6. We have Atty. Gen. Thurbert Baker & Sec. of Labor Michael Thurmond

fighting the good fight for us. They are Democrats. Mr. Thurmond is from my city. They are both good men. Mark Taylor, our Democratic Lt. Gov. no longer has much power because the Republicans reorganized the Lt. Gov's office and stripped him of much power. :(

edit: Georgia Democrats governed Georgia for decades. We need help from the federal judiciary to help solve our voting problems. DIebold fraud and voter ID are federal issues. We don't want a Northern takeover. Thanks anyway.

[Joe Chi Minh]

9. The whole election system should be federalised.

The neocons have made a mockery of "states' rights", anyway - even if it had any validity in this context. Which I think would be unique to America - one of the very last places such "independence" within a national context, could be trusted.

[BeFree]

10. Federal Elections should be Federalized

Any congressional and presidential vote in whatever state needs to be run with one set of laws. What one state does effects all the others when it comes to federal offices. We have laws concerning interstate commerce, in fact the constitution directly applies in some cases.

Maybe it's time for a constitutional guarantee that whoever is federally elected needs to be done so under the federal constitution? Having federal elections totally separate from local and state elections would be a good idea, along with it being a holiday.

[Joe Chi Minh]

12. Quite right.

And until politics in the US becomes less of a magnet for criminal political desperadoes, a special corps of election officials should be trained, effectively, as "Untouchables", who, concurrently with their direct polling duties, etc., should be required to build up a tradition in their work of legendary probity.

The full force of the law should not have to wait until after the election to be expedited, but rather would-be miscreants should know that one strike and they're IN - IN prison for a minimum of however many weeks months or years.

It might well be advisable for the election officers to be given sovereign authority over all other law-enforcement agencies for the duration of the polling, counting and recounting, and be backed up by federal marshalls, in the event of interference/trouble being caused by local police or politicos, of whatever rank or status.

Of course, should an election official be seen to act in bad faith, a minimum of several years of hard time in prison should be imposed on him/her. The bottom line being that "bad faith" should become more severely punishable the further the remove. If false witness is borne, n order to incriminate an innocent official, all the more severe the penalty. Trials should not be held locally. There can be no excuse for corrupting an election.

For all that there should be a friendly inclusive atmosphere to all-comers, as there is in other Western countries.

[BeFree]

15. Damn fine ideas

I like the idea of 'Election Marshals' who would oversee federal elections and who have the authority needed to keep elections fraud free.

Definitely there need be laws on the books which, if evaded, would lead to corrupt election officials being hung out to dry. The elections are that important.

[Joe Chi Minh]

18. Just the suspicion of impropriety

should be enough for them to be required to act, swiftly and decisively, even if it's a state governor, senator, cabinet minister, anyone. As you say, it's that important.

[GarySeven]

11. The whole election system in the South IS federalized

by the 1964 Voting Rights Act.

Discriminatory voting practices are very much legal in the ideologically pure and enlightened North; only the Southern states must submit every electoral boundary and voting procedure to review by the Justice Department (which by the way is now controlled by Republicans.)

[jefferson_dem]

8. Fed court temporarily bars Georgia from enforcing voter ID law

Fed court temporarily bars Georgia from enforcing voter ID law

The Associated Press - ATLANTA, Ga.

A federal court has temporarily barred Georgia from enforcing a new state law requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls.

In granting a preliminary injunction Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Harold Murphy in Rome, Ga., agreed with critics who claimed the law amounted to an unconstitutional poll tax.

The U.S. Justice Department approved the law in August, saying that while Attorney General Alberto Gonzales didn't object to the state's voter ID requirement the federal agency's approval didn't preclude lawsuits against it.

Weeks after the law won federal approval, voter and civil rights groups filed the federal lawsuit challenging the law, contending it violates state and federal constitutions.

<SNIP>

http://www.accessnorthga.com/news/ap_newfullstory.asp?ID=66466

[badgervan]

13. Voting Should Be Easy

Ever notice the difference between the two parties when it comes to encouraging us to actually vote? The dems are always seeking ways to make voting easier, more convenient - while the repubs seem to constantly come up with new ways to discourage us; to make it harder or more inconvenient to vote. Says a lot.

[newyawker99]

22. Hi badgervan!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[hang a left]

16. Good! Take this one to the SC and let us see where

the voters in this country really stand.

[ChoralScholar]

17. I've always had to show Photo ID here in Arkansas....

[RebelOne]

19. I don't understand. I thought photo ID was always required

here in Georgia. Last year, everyone who voted in the Presidential election had to show photo ID.

[Laelth]

20. Court blocks voter ID law (Georgia's govt. ID rule injoined)

Good news today:

ATLANTA - 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 it 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.

Kudos to U.S. District Court Judge Harold Murphy. Story here:

http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/12937581.htm

-Laelth

[Laelth]

21. Whoops.

Good catch, mods. Sorry about the dupe. :blush:

-Laelth