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AJC.com > Legislature > Blog > Archives > 2009 > March > 03 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USSenate passes stricter voter registration requirements
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Voters would have to prove their U.S. citizenship with documents when registering to vote under a bill that passed the Senate Tuesday.
Supporters say the bill would prevent illegal immigrants from voting in Georgia and prevent voter fraud. Opponents say the measure amounts to a poll tax on poor Georgians who don’t have identification papers and would have to pay money to get them.
County voter registrars would be required to reject any voter registration application that does not include a birth certificate, passport, naturalization document, or driver’s license that proves U.S. citizenship, according to Senate Bill 86. Other documents could be accepted as well, such as a Bureau of Indian Affairs card number or tribal enrollment number. The measure passed the Senate 34 to 20 and must now go to the House.
Secretary of State Karen Handel applauded the bill’s passage, calling it “common sense legislation that will further strengthen the integrity and confidence in our elections by ensuring that only U.S. citizens are able to vote.”
Many African-American legislators argued with passion that Senate Bill 86 reminds them of tactics used in the state during the time when people were denied the right to vote because of their race.
“We’re harkening back to a time that many of us thought was a by-gone time,” said Sen. Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta).
“It will create an impediment to registering and ultimately an impediment to voting,” Fort said.
The League of Women Voters opposes the legislation, as well, saying birth certificates are easily forged. The group also argued that citizenship documents often do not reflect an immigrant’s current name.
Right now, all people registering to vote have to swear that they are a citizen, but they don’t have to prove it with paperwork.
The new procedures would take effect Jan. 1, 2010. The requirements would not apply to anyone already registered to vote in Georgia before the end of this year, so long as they remain continuously on the voter rolls.
Secretary of State Karen Handel ran into opposition last fall when her office began verifying citizenship of voters.
Voting rights groups sued Handel in U.S. District Court in Atlanta last fall to seek to halt the state’s attempt to verify the identities and citizenship of registered voters close to the Nov. 4 election.
A federal three-judge panel later ruled that Handel could continue checking citizenship, but the system ultimately would be subject to pre-clearance by the Department of Justice.
Handel celebrated the ruling at the time.
The suit came the day after the U.S. Department of Justice said the state’s actions to verify identity and citizenship appear to violate the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The law requires states with a history of discriminatory voting practices to get approval from the federal government before making certain changes to voting and election policy.
The DOJ has requested more information about the program, said Matt Carrothers, a spokesman for Handel. Handel’s office is working with the Georgia Attorney General’s office to provide that information, he said.
Handel’s office asked counties to check the status of about 5,000 individuals statewide whose driver’s license records indicated they were not citizens, but who had registered to vote, according to Handel’s office.
The Secretary of State’s office double-checks information on all newly registered voters and also on established voters if they change their name, driver’s license number or Social Security number, Carrothers said.
Bill sponsor, Sen. Cecil Staton (R-Macon) said the legislation is necessary to prevent illegal immigrants from voting.
He could not say how many illegal immigrants may have voted in Georgia, but he said it could be “hundreds.”
Out of 599 people who voted challenge ballots in the presidential election because of questions about their citizenship, 230 ballots were rejected because of lack of documentation of citizenship, Staton said.
Sen. Steve Thompson (D-Marietta) said the bill is not about illegal immigrants but about hindering access to the polls for poor Georgians.
“This is about the poor, the elderly, the infirm, who have a hard time getting out to vote,” Thompson said. This bill would harm their ability to vote because it would be difficult to get the proper paperwork, Thompson said.
Record-keeping in Georgia is not always what it should be, Thompson said. Others argued that births were often recorded in the family Bible, not the town hall.
Sen. Nan Orrock (D-Atlanta) said Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin’s own mother did not have the correct documents to register to vote when she moved here from North Carolina. The elderly woman was born in a rural area and did not have a birth certificate, Orrock said.
Sen. Gloria Butler (D-Stone Mountain) rose to say that she herself did not have a proper birth certificate and had to pay money to get one. “My mother’s maiden name was spelled wrong, so I had to spend some extra money,” Butler said.
Sen. Kasim Reed (D-Atlanta) added that about 300,000 Georgians didn’t even have Georgia driver’s licenses.
Sen. Gail Buckner (D-Morrow) said many people in her district would be affected by this legislation, especially the elderly, who often don’t have documents.
“The elderly see this as an affront to their honesty,” Buckner said.
Permalink | Comments (4) | Post your comment | Categories: Legislature
Comments
By J
March 4, 2009 12:25 PM | Link to this
I know that immigrant-bashing is all the rage right now (plus ca change…), especially here in super-Red Georgia, but this doesn’t pass the smell test. I live surrounded by immigrants, legal and (undoubtedly) otherwise, and I can say pretty definitively that voting is extremely low on their list of desires and concerns.
Not to mention that every serious investigation of voter fraud in recent years has found that it happens quite rarely, and even then in sporadic, limited cases. So, the question is, if the problem that this legislation is purporting to address (illegals voting in large numbers) doesn’t exist, then why is this legislation so important to Georgia’s GOP???
By Doug
March 4, 2009 2:29 PM | Link to this
J, It is not immigrant bashing to demand that States within this Republic validate US Citizenship when people registered to vote and vote, it’s Constitutional? Only US Citizens are allowed to vote in this Union and just because it is too inconvenient for poor Democrats to find the correct documents to vote (poor Republicans seem to find the correct documents) does not mean Democratic controlled States are to undermine the US Constitution.
Article IV - Section 4
The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence. Republic: A government having a chief of state who is not a monarch and is usually a president; also : a nation or other political unit having such a government 2 : a government in which supreme power is held by the citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives governing according to law; also : a nation or other political unit having such a form of government Source.
What don’t you understand about “the citizens entitled to vote”?
How many non-citizens voted for Al Franken?
By Cobb Woman
March 5, 2009 12:38 PM | Link to this
Why would a U.S. citizen be asked to prove their citizenship? How can a bill be passed by the state legislature to fix a problem without proof a problem exists?
I want to see hard numbers on how many voters are illegal. I want to see concrete examples of the voting process being tainted by non-citizens.
I want the Secretary of State to do her job of verifying citizenship without the state legislature adding more bloat to big government by doing her job for her!
Just who was the numbskull who sponsored this legislation? What is his/her real motive behind this bill?
By Doug
March 5, 2009 4:30 PM | Link to this
Cobb Woman,
Why would a U.S. citizen be asked to prove their citizenship?
Well, let my think … because it’s Constitional?
Do you have to prove your a US Citizenship to get a US Passport?
If it’s one or one million it does not matter, one non-citzen vote cancels out a US Citizen vote, how hard is that to understand. The fact of the matter is States do not validate US Citzenship when people regsiter to vote and vote. This makes the system ripe for voter fraud.
Why don’t you be honest and admit you like the advantage of a “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Voter Registration Policy” because it benifits Democrats?
US Citizenship is nonpartisan, period! If you are against validating US Citizenship when people register to vote, which I might add conforms with the US Constitution (Article IV - Section 4), then Madam you are one true partisan indeed!
Do your homework, and I’m sure you would come to the same conclusions that I did! You will find out that Democratic control States surpress any investions into this type of voter fraud.