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DEL.ICIO.USSupreme Court eyes Indiana voter ID law
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday heard arguments on the state of Indiana’s voter ID law. Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel, an observer, left the session believing her state’s law mandating photo identification will remain intact.
“I thought it went extremely well,” Handel said.
The Indiana law taken up by the Supremes is even more restrictive than Georgia’s. Lawyers on both sides were pummeled with questions about whether such laws are necessary to prevent voter fraud and whether requiring would-be voters to provide a government-issued photo ID has actually prevented anyone from voting.
Parts of Georgia’s voter ID law are modeled on the Indiana law, Handel said, with several key exceptions.
Indiana requires a photo ID to get an absentee ballot. Georgia does not. Indiana has stricter requirements for voters seeking a voter ID card. Georgia provides an ID card free to anyone who is registered to vote but lacks a driver’s license.
Bottom line: If Indiana’s law survives, Georgia’s should too. But even if the Indiana law is struck down, Handel said, odds are still high Georgians will stil be required to show ID cards at the polls.
“Whether or not the Indiana law stands,” Handel said, “I feel very optimistic about Georgia’s law.”
Comments
By Jerry
January 10, 2008 10:43 AM | Link to this
I vote by absentee ballot. I don’t even have to prove I’m alive, much less provide a photo ID. We all know, but many won’t admit, that the voter ID requirement is intended to discourage Democratic voters.