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AJC.com > Legislature > Georgia Beat > Archives > 2005 > March > 16 > Entry
AARP blasts bills requiring voters to have photo ID
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
AARP Georgia has joined the growing number of groups coming out against legislation that would require registered voters to show photo ID at the polls.
“While we are opposed to this change because it is unfair to voters of all ages, it is particularly onerous to Georgians 75 years and older, 36 percent of whom do not have a driver’s licenses,” AARP Georgia said in a press release.
“This proposal to eliminate up to a dozen previously acceptable forms of identification and substitute a photo ID is a draconian attempt at disenfranchisement and discrimination.”
Two bills, SB 84 and HB 244, mandate photo ID for voters and are being vigorously opposed by Democratic legislators. They contend a photo ID is tantamount to the old poll tax and designed to limit voting by minorities, the poor and elderly.
Republicans argue that requiring photo IDs will cut down on voter fraud.
Laughlin McDonald, director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, has said he expects voting rights groups to file a lawsuit if either bill is passed and signed into law with the photo ID requirement.
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