Lewis, two senators request voter ID letter investigation

<p>U.S. Rep. John Lewis and two U.S. senators have requested a federal investigation into the State Election Board's mailing of letters erroneously telling voters they must show a photo ID to cast a ballot Nov. 7.</p><p>The elections board contacted sent the letters to 305,000 voters and most _ about 200,000 _ received the mass mailing after Fulton County Superior Court Judge T. Jackson Bedford declared on Sept. 19 the photo ID law violated the Georgia Constitution as an undue burden on voters.</p><p>Lewis, along with Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez requesting the investigation "to determine whether there was a specific intent to defy the court's decision and mislead voters."</p><p>"It is important that the U.S. attorney general investigate this matter to determine the motive and the intent of the mailing. We must let the federal government and the courts decide whether voter suppression was the goal of this action," Lewis said.</p><p>The letters told registered voters they may need to show either a free Georgia voter identification card or one of six forms of photo ID to vote in person. The letter also reminded voters they could vote absentee without a photo ID. Critics said voters could assume by reading the letter that they wouldn't be allowed to vote next month if they didn't have a photo ID.</p><p>Opponents claim Georgia's photo ID law is intended to discourage minorities, the poor and the elderly from casting ballots. Supporters of the law _ primarily Republicans _ argue it is needed to prevent voter fraud, despite the absence of examples of in-person voter fraud. Similar laws have been passed in Indiana, Missouri and Arizona, but most have been blocked from enforcement.</p><p>On Tuesday, the election board took action to correct the problem, by approving a second letter to inform the more than 300,000 voters who were told they needed a photo ID to vote that they can still use 17 forms of identification to cast a ballot on Nov. 7. Radio and television public service announcements also will be broadcast statewide.</p><p>Elections Board Vice Chair Claud "Tex" McIver said the first letter was not confusing and the board corrected "any possible confusion by sending out the second letter."</p><p>"Regardless of what you think about the first one, the second one corrects it. It will not deter anyone from voting."</p><p>The new letters allowed a legal team that opposed the voter-photo ID law to drop a contempt charge against the state on Wednesday.</p><p>"At the end of the day, this isn't about grandstanding or trying to point fingers. It's about making sure Georgians have the correct information so that they will be able to freely vote in the November election," Jennifer Auer Jordan of the Barnes Law Group, headed by former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes, previously said.</p><p>But Lewis and the two senators said the new letter will lead to a "situation that is at best confusing and at worst will keep thousands of voters away from the polls this election day."</p><p>The state has appealed Bedford's ruling to the Georgia Supreme Court, but the case is not expected to be heard before the Nov. 7 elections because the state did not request an expedited appeal. For months, lawyers have been battling over Georgia's photo ID law _ one of several passed recently across the country _ in state and federal court.</p><p>_____</p><p>On The Net:</p><p>HASH(0x1cddb88)</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x1cddce4)</p>