Mr. John Tanner Chief, Voting Section Civil Rights Division United States Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N. W. Washington, DC 20530
Dear Mr. Tanner:
We are writing in strong opposition to pre-clearance approval of Georgia House Bill 244, Act 53, a recently enacted measure passed by the Georgia General Assembly on March 31, 2005, and signed into law by Governor Sonny Perdue on April 22, 2005.
This Act amends certain provisions of the Georgia code to require government issued photo identification as a prerequisite for voting in Georgia. This matter has been submitted to you by the State of Georgia as submission 2005-2029.
There are numerous reasons for our opposition to House Bill 244, Act 53, and other proposals throughout the United States that are venturing down this regressive path.
Prior to enacting this legislation, Georgia allowed 17 forms of identification (ID) developed in conjunction with the U. S. Justice Department, and allowed a voter to cast a provisional ballot if they had none of those on election day. The presumption was in favor of voting, with voter fraud prevention coming on the back end by way of checking voters' signatures. The 17 forms of ID are listed below.
(1) a valid Georgia driver's license; (2) a valid identification card issued by a branch, department, agency, or entity of the State of Georgia, any other state, or the United States authorized by law to issue personal identification; (3) a valid United States passport; (4) a valid employee identification card containing a photograph of the elector and issued by any branch, department, agency, or entity of the United States government, this state, or any county, municipality, board, authority, or other entity of this state; (5) a valid employee identification card containing a photograph of the elector and issued by any employer of the elector in the ordinary course of such employer's business; (6) a valid student identification card containing a photograph of the elector from any public or private college, university, or postgraduate technical or professional school located within the state of Georgia; (7) a valid Georgia license to carry a pistol or revolver; (8) a valid pilot's license issued by the Federal Aviation Administration or other authorized agency of the United States; (9) a valid United States military identification card; (10) a certified copy of the elector's birth certificate; (11) a valid social security card; (12) certified naturalization documentation; (13) or a certified copy of court records showing adoption, name, or sex change; (14) A copy of a utility bill; (15) A bank statement (will be kept confidential); (16) A government check or payment with name and address; or (17) A government document that shows the name and address of the elector.
• House Bill 244 reduces required ID from 17 to four: A Valid Georgia Driver's License A Valid Georgia ID Card A Valid Military ID Card A Valid United States Passport If citizens do not have any one of these four forms of ID, they will not be allowed to vote.
• Georgia has 159 counties, currently there are not more than 50 locations in this state which offer official state ID. This creates a problem of accessibility for senior citizens and many of the state's poor who depend on public transportation to reach the locations. In many counties in South Georgia there are no locations where Georgia photo IDs are issued. There is no provision in the legislation to open more locations accessible to each community. Instead, many which were previously open have recently been closed, which includes the one that was located in downtown Atlanta, the capital city.
• When people finally find a location to get a state ID, the state is not going to just take their word for who they are. This constitutes people having to get other ID (most likely a birth certificate) to take with them. If they do not have a birth certificate in their possession they have to go through the inconvenience of getting one from vital statistics which may not be in their area.
• Authors of House Bill 244 could not give one instance of voter fraud in the state when asked while presenting the bill. It is well known that most voter fraud emanates from absentee ballots; however, the legislature expanded the provisions regarding those.
• The state will accept IDs from students in public (state colleges and universities), but valid IDs from students at private colleges and universities will not be accepted. College photo ID is college photo ID – whether from a public or private college. To accept one and not the other constitutes a form of discrimination.
• Valid employee photo ID is not acceptable.
• Not many poor and elderly people possess a passport. Driver's licenses of many elderly citizens have been taken away from them by their children to keep them from driving, but they still want and have a right to vote.
• Under this bill, voting is being treated as a privilege, but it is a right. We should not be enacting legislation that will present impediments to voting. Voting should be encouraged.
• Under this new legislation provisional ballots are restricted.
• It seems as if the authors of this legislation were reaching for every pre-1965 impediment except the literacy test.
House Bill 244 is probably one of the most regressive pieces of voter rights legislation since the Jim Crow era. It is definitely currently the country's most restrictive voter ID law.
What's so amazingly frightening about these attacks on our voting rights and access to the ballot is that so many in this country seem to have forgotten or just plainly refuse to acknowledge that African-Americans have only been able to cast ballots (free of intimidation and harassment) for 40 years. While, almost 2,000 American troops have died fighting for freedom and democracy, and to expand the access to voting for citizens of Iraq, the state of Georgia is doing just the opposite for its citizens.
We ask that you carefully consider the negative impact House Bill 244 will have on a large segment of Georgia voters. Please deny pre-clearance of this regressive and discriminatory legislation.
Peace and Justice,
Tyrone Brooks, President Georgia Association of Black Elected Officials
