Black lawmakers call for withdrawal of Georgia voter ID law

<p>Several of Georgia's black lawmakers on Wednesday called for the withdrawal of the state's controversial voter ID law and condemned remarks by the bill's sponsor that blacks in her district typically only vote if they're paid.</p><p>The remarks attributed to state Rep. Sue Burmeister, R-Augusta, were first revealed last week in a Justice Department memo obtained by The Washington Post that indicated a team of agency lawyers and analysts were initially opposed to approving the Georgia law.</p><p>"She is the Trent Lott of the Republican Party of Georgia," said State Rep. Douglas Dean, D-Atlanta, referring to the Mississippi senator's 2002 comments that seemed to praise the late Sen. Strom Thurmond's segregationist past.</p><p>Burmeister, who is white, later apologized for her comments, saying, "While I do believe that voter fraud is rampant in our state, I in no way believe that African-Americans in my district or around the state only vote when they are paid to do so."</p><p>State Sen. Vincent Fort, D-Atlanta, called the statement a rationalization and asked Burmeister to step down as majority caucus secretary. Burmeister did not immediately return calls to The Associated Press on Wednesday.</p><p>State Sen. Cecil Staton, R-Macon, who sponsored the voter ID bill in the state Senate, has said he is willing to make changes to the law, but Fort said the law cannot be improved upon.</p><p>"It shouldn't be fixed. We need this legislation off the books," said Fort, who asked for U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez to withdraw the Justice Department's approval of the law.</p><p>Despite the department's approval, a federal appeals court has blocked enactment of the law, which requires Georgia residents who don't have a driver's license or another state-issued form of identification to buy a separate card for as much as $35.</p><p>Critics say that's the equivalent of an illegal poll tax, falling on the underprivileged, who are disproportionately minorities.</p><p>State Rep. Bob Holmes, D-Atlanta, said the law is an example of why the Voting Rights Act of 1965 should remain in place in Georgia and other states with a history of voting discrimination.</p><p>"Now that you're in a position of power, don't take us backward, take us forward," State Rep. Able Mable Thomas, D-Atlanta, told Republicans.</p>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2005/11/134705