Ga. voter ID passes test in local elections

<p>Voters in 23 counties throughout Georgia went to the polls on Tuesday in the biggest test yet of the state's new law requiring that voters show a photo ID to cast a ballot.</p><p>Polls closed at 7 p.m. and state officials said the low-turnout local elections appeared to have gone off without a hitch.</p><p>Opponents of the voter ID law warned that hundreds of thousands people lacked the photo ID needed to vote. But the Secretary of State's office reported that 3,585 state photo ID cards have been issued to Georgians who presumably lacked the needed photo identification, 522 of them since the state launched an education effort on Aug. 1 to let voters know about the new requirement.</p><p>"I didn't notice anything different," said Jennifer Rivers of South Fulton, which is voting on whether to incorporate. "I think people are used to having to show ID to do most anything these days. I know I am."</p><p>Secretary of State Karen Handel said Georgia poll workers have been trained to allow those without photo IDs to cast a provisional ballot. They would then have 48 hours to present a valid ID in order for their vote to count.</p><p>"We want as many people who are eligible to vote to be able to vote," Handel said. "The idea is not to keep people from voting."</p><p>Most experts say that the true test of the law will come in Georgia's Feb. 5 presidential primary when turnout is expected to be far higher.</p><p>Lawyers and legislators in Georgia have been battling over voter ID for several years now.</p><p>The most recent twist came when a federal judge earlier this month cleared the way for the law to take effect. U.S. District Court Judge Harold Murphy had found an earlier version of the law unconstitutional, saying it amounted to a poll tax. The Legislature addressed his complaints in a subsequent version which made photo IDs free to anyone who needed them.</p><p>In his latest ruling, Murphy praised the state's effort to educate voters about the changes and said critics of the law had been unable to find anyone actually harmed by it.</p><p>Lawyers who challenged the law are deciding whether to appeal to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.</p><p>A separate state lawsuit also failed. The Georgia Supreme Court tossed out a challenge filed by former Democratic Gov. Roy Barnes.</p><p>The voter ID law had been used three times in 2005 county elections in Richmond and Gwinnett counties before it was blocked by the courts.</p><p>Opponents claim the photo ID law will disenfranchise minorities, the poor and the elderly who don't have a driver's license or other valid government-issued photo.</p><p>Supporters say the law is needed to prevent voter fraud and preserve the integrity of the electoral system. No examples of in-person voter fraud have been presented, though the proposal's backers often mention the threat of non-citizens casting illegal ballots.</p><p>Georgia's is one of several voter ID laws passed in recent years across the country.</p><p>Laws in Arizona, Indiana and Michigan have survived court challenges. But Missouri's top court struck down that state's law.</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x2dec750)</p>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2007/9/90411