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September 7, 2010

Top state court considers voter ID law

GREG BLUESTEIN, Associated Press Writer

ATLANTA — Critics of the Georgia law that requires voters to show photo identification before they cast ballots say it’s a solution in need of a problem because no one can prove the voter fraud it’s supposed to prevent.

Supporters of the tough legislation sound a similar argument, but with a twist: They say the detractors have no ground to bring legal challenges because they have yet to prove the new law has prevented anyone from voting.

The two sides tangled before the Georgia Supreme Court over a new type of legal challenge brought by the Democratic Party of Georgia, which has long claimed the measure creates an undue burden on poor, disabled people and minorities.

Earlier efforts to block the law were filed in federal court and contended it violated voters’ rights under the U.S. Constitution. A federal appeals panel upheld the law in January 2009, and the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a similar law from Indiana in 2008.

But this latest case claims the requirement violates the Georgia Constitution, which gives everyone the “absolute right” to vote as long as they meet the required qualifications, said Emmet Bondurant, an attorney for the Democratic Party.

And nowhere does the state constitution say a voter must show a photo ID before casting a ballot, he said. The oath that voters must sign swearing upon their identity and that they are eligible to vote is enough.

“And that’s all that’s required,” Bondurant said.

State attorneys say registered voters who don’t have a photo ID and don’t want to get a free one still have a choice — they can still cast absentee ballots.

“There is nothing in the photo ID act that denies the right to vote,” said Mark Cohen, a special assistant attorney. “Our right to vote is a personal right. It’s a fundamental right. But it’s subject to reasonable regulations.”

Both sides, though, clashed the most over whether the other had grounds to file their challenges in the first place.

Bondurant claimed that the hundreds of voters who cast provisional ballots over the last few election cycles because they didn’t have photo identification and never returned with their IDs is proof enough. And he said the legislation still wouldn’t stop voter fraud.

“I could register as my dog Alex,” he said. “It would be a felony, but I could do it.”

Cohen countered that the law’s critics have yet to prove they even have standing to bring a lawsuit.

“After four years of challenges claiming it bars the constitutional right to vote of hundreds of thousands of Georgians, not one voter can be found whose rights were denied,” said Cohen. “Not one.”

 

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