Phase two of photo ID outreach begins

Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel announced today the beginning of Phase Two of her office's Photo ID outreach and education campaign in preparation for municipal elections to be held in 90 counties on November 6.

The campaign is aimed at reminding voters they must present photo identification for in-person voting. Photo identification is not required to vote with an absentee ballot.

The Secretary of State's Office is sending letters to over 166,000 active and inactive registered voters in the 90 counties who may not have a Georgia driver's license or state identification card.

The voters receiving this letter were identified through a database match of active and inactive registered voters and Georgia Department of Drivers Services (DDS) records. "We encourage every registered voter who does not yet have photo identification to contact their county registrar's office or DDS center. We want to ensure that every citizen who needs a free photo ID card knows where to obtain it," said Handel.

Registered voters in the 90 counties believed to not have a driver's license or other photo identification will also receive an informational brochure and postcard in the weeks leading up to the November 6 election date.

In addition to the letters, brochures and postcards, the Secretary of State's Office is placing public service announcements on cable television and extensive radio advertising, including Atlanta Falcons broadcasts, reminding voters of the photo ID requirement. Handel's office is also conducting mandatory training sessions for county elections officials and poll workers, and distributing information to public libraries and other public facilities in the 90 counties conducting elections.

Handel added, "Every Georgian counts. So should their vote. The photo identification requirement protects the integrity of our election process."

Georgia law requires that voters present one of the following forms of photo identification when voting in person:
*A Georgia driver's license, even if expired;
*Any valid state or federal government issued photo ID, including a free Voter ID Card issued by a county registrar or Georgia Department of Driver Services;
*Valid U.S. passport;
*Valid employee photo identification from any branch, department, agency, or entity of the U.S. Government, Georgia, or any county, municipality, board, authority, or other entity of this state;
*Valid U.S. military photo ID; or
*Valid tribal photo ID.

For more information, visit the Secretary of State's website at

www.GaPhotoID.com

Reminder: photo ID’s required in upcoming election

Voters taking part in the upcoming General Primary Election that begins Monday, July 7 and end Friday, July 11, 2008 must show one of the following six forms of photo ID:

• A Georgia driver’s license, even if expired;
• Any valid state or federal government issued photo ID, including a free Voter ID Card issued by your county registrar or Georgia Department of Driver Services (DDS);
• Valid U.S. passport;
• Valid employee photo ID from any branch, department, agency, or entity of the U.S. Government, Georgia, or any county, municipality, board, authority, or other entity of this state;
• Valid U.S. military photo ID; or
• Valid tribal photo ID.

If a voter does not have one of these forms of photo identification, they can obtain a free voter ID card at their county registrar’s office or the Georgia Department of Driver Services, according to a statement issued by the Secretary of State’s Office.

Additional information about Georgia’s photo ID requirement is here:
www.GAPhotoID.com, or call toll free (877) 725-9797.

Contact information can be found on the 2008 Election Center website:
http://sos.georgia.gov/elections/ElectionCenter08.htm.

Downloadable and printable absentee ballot request forms are here:
http://sos.georgia.gov/elections/ElectionCenter08.htm.

Voters can find voter registration information, including polling locations and legislative districts, by visiting http://sos.georgia.gov/elections/ElectionCenter08.htm or by calling (888) 265-1115.

Phase Three of Voter Photo ID outreach begins

In preparation for the primaries on Feb. 5, Phase Three of Secretary of State Karen Handel's Photo ID outreach begins, reports Access North Georgia.com.

Her office identified thousands of active and inactive registered voters who may not have a Georgia driver's license or identification card. They will receive letters reminding them they must present photo identification if they're going to the polls.

Photo ID is not required with an absentee ballot by mail.

The outreach encompasses voters who registered to vote after local elections in the fall and both voters targeted and not targeted in previous phases.

Acceptable forms of identifications follows:

• Georgia driver's license, even if expired
• Any valid state or federal government issued photo ID
• Valid U.S. passport
• Valid government employee photo ID
  
• Valid U.S. military photo ID or valid tribal photo ID

Voters who do not have one of the forms of identification listed above may receive a free Georgia Voter ID from their county elections office.

Voter Guidelines for Upcoming Primaries

Secretary of State Karen Handel today reminded voters that the deadline to register to vote and be eligible to cast a ballot in the February 5 Presidential Preference Primary is Monday, January 7.

Here are the rules, according to a statement released by Handel's office:

To register to vote in Georgia, you must be a citizen of the United States, a legal resident of Georgia and of the county in which you wish to vote, and at least 18 years old by Election Day. You may not register to vote if you are currently serving any sentence imposed by the conviction of a felony or judicially determined to be mentally incompetent.

You can download and complete a voter registration application by visiting the Secretary of State’s website at www.sos.georgia.gov/elections. You can also contact your local county registrars' office, public library, public assistance office, recruitment office, schools and other government offices for a mail-in registration form. Voter Registration is offered when renewing or applying for a driver's license at any Georgia Department of Driver Services office. College students can obtain Georgia voter registration forms from their school registrar's office or from the office of the Vice President of Academic Affairs.

Georgia law requires registered voters to show photo identification when voting in person. This photo identification requirement applies in the February 5 Presidential Preference Primary and all future elections. When voting absentee by mail, photo identification is not required.

Voters casting ballots in person, either through early voting or on Election Day, will be required to show one of the following forms of acceptable photo ID when they vote:

• A Georgia driver’s license, even if expired;
• Any valid state or federal government issued photo ID, including a free Voter ID Card issued by your county registrar or Georgia Department of Driver Services (DDS);
• Valid U.S. passport;
• Valid employee photo ID from any branch, department, agency, or entity of the U.S. Government, Georgia, or any county, municipality, board, authority, or other entity of this state;
• Valid U.S. military photo ID; or
• Valid tribal photo ID.
  
  Voters who have questions are encouraged to call the Georgia Secretary of State’s Voter ID Hotline at (877) 725-9797 or visit www.GaPhotoID.com.
  
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Election Day: Down to the wire reminder

An elderly voter casts her ballot at the Fulton County Government Center, Tuesday Oct. 28, 2008. (Dave Bender)

Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel reminds voters:

Polls will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 4, 2008. Georgia law provides that any voter in line at 7:00 p.m. shall be permitted to vote. Voters can find registration information, including polling locations and legislative districts, by using the Secretary of State’s Poll Locator at http://www.sos.georgia.gov/Elections or by calling (888) 265-1115.

Voters participating in the election on Election Day will be required to show one of the following six forms of photo ID:

• A Georgia driver’s license, even if expired;
• Any valid state or federal government issued photo ID, including a free Voter ID Card issued by your county registrar or Georgia Department of Driver Services (DDS);
• Valid U.S. passport;
• Valid employee photo ID from any branch, department, agency, or entity of the U.S. Government, Georgia, or any county, municipality, board, authority, or other entity of this state;
• Valid U.S. military photo ID; or
• Valid tribal photo ID.
• If a voter does not have one of these forms of photo identification, the voter can obtain a free voter ID card at their county registrar’s office or the Georgia Department of Driver Services.

Anyone with additional questions about Georgia’s photo ID requirement can visit www.GAPhotoID.com or call toll free (877) 725-9797.

Click here for more GPB News election coverage.

Voter I-D challenge thrown out

The Georgia Supreme Court on Monday threw out a challenge to the state's voter I-D law on a technicality. The state Supreme Court decided that the plantiff in the voter I-D case did not have the legal standing to challenge the law. So no decision was made on the validity of the photo I-D requirement.

The ruling does overturn a decision last September by a Fulton County Superior Court judge, that said the law requiring a picture I-D at the polls was unconstitutional and an undue burden on voters. After that ruling the state election board decided not to require photo I-D cards for the November elections.

The battle over Georgia's voter I-D law has been going on for over a year in state and federal court. Opponents claim the law will disenfranchise minorities, the poor, and the elderly who don't have a driver's license or other government-issued photo I-D.

The law's supporters, including Governor Sonny Perdue, say it is needed to prevent voter fraud. No examples of in-person voter fraud have been presented in any of the court challenges. But supporters say the potential exists.

NAACP looks ahead to July/November elections

Voter turnout has been high nationwide at this year's Presidential primaries. Voting has also been under the spotlight lately because several states have passed laws requiring photo identification. Georgia is included in that list and you do have to present a government-issued ID at the polls here. But it's been controversial.

Opponents say requiring photo ID at the polls makes voting a burden for some elderly and minorities who may not have an ID. Last week the U.S. Supreme Court disagreed and upheld Indiana's right to require photo ID at the polls. But the controversy is not over in Georgia. In advance of July’s statewide elections, the Georgia NAACP has begun working to ensure all eligible Georgians get to vote.

The group is hoping to avoid a repeat of Super Tuesday 2008, in November. The group's President Edward DuBose says nearly a thousand voters were purged in February from local rolls based upon inaccurate data.

"Our concern now as we move into a historic presidential election, is that these rulings coincide so closely with an election that is history making."

Adopting a strategy that has its origins in the civil rights movement of yesteryear, the group plans a massive grass roots undertaking, to ensure that everyone who is eligible has the proper identification.

"We've got to engage our coalition partners like ministers, and fraternity and sorority organizations, to get out in some cases, knocking on doors. Our question anf our concern at the same time is, will Georgia be ready?"

The group says it has planned local and regional information session, right up to July's statement elections and on into the November presidential showdown.

And, if necessary, the NAACP says following both elections, it will call for public hearings in case of election rights violations.

Secretary of state revives voter photo requirement

Secretary of State Karen Handel plans to make voters show photo identification at the polls beginning with a special election in September.

"We are ready to begin education, outreach and training for the implementation of photo ID requirements for the September 18 special elections," Handel says.

Handel says the state can go forward because the Georgia Supreme Court has dismissed a case challenging the law. Her office is preparing letters to send to 1.15 million registered voters in the 27 counties holding a special election in September. Handel says only about 77,000 of those voters lack the proper identification, however.

But another case is still pending in federal court. Attorney Emmet Bondurant, who represents the plaintiffs, says Handel's efforts "are very likely to generate vast amounts of confusion--people being told they're going to have to get [photo ID], how to get it and all that sort of stuff when, in fact, the requirement that they obtain one at all is basically unconstitutional."

He says Handel "aspires to be our Katherine Harris," referring to the Florida secretary of state who supervised that state's 2000 presidential election, which ended in controversy over misread ballots and uncounted votes.

In response, Handel says she will not speculate on future decisions.

"I can only go with what the law is here and now in front of me, and the law today in front of me is that photo ID is in effect," she says.

Both sides say they want a speedy trial and a final decision on the issue, which has hung over Georgia elections for three years.

"It is imperative that we move to a final resolution in the Common Cause case so that the people of Georgia will know once and for all what to expect when they go to the polls to cast their vote," says Handel.

The suspended law would require voters to show one of six forms of government-issued photo identification at the polls. Supporters say the law would discourage voter fraud. Opponents say voter fraud is much more likely through absentee ballots, and the law would disproportionately affect registered voters who are poor or elderly.

Voter ID Testimony Ends

Today was the last day for testimony in Federal Court in Rome, to determine if making a photo ID a mandatory form ID at the polls is legal.

During closing arguments Attorneys for the state said that there is no way to measure in-person voter fraud and the photo id requirement will do so. But Ed Hines, a lawyer for the plaintiff, says a photo requirement could deter voters from going to the polls.

"Elections are sometimes won by tiny margins. Numbers matter; every vote counts," said Hines.

The plaintiffs, which include common cause and the NAACP, said in their closing argument that the state had not shown any proof that photo ID’s will help prevent voting fraud and that the law targets elderly African Americans.

Secretary of state, Karen Handel, says that this is the best way to get some numbers on voter fraud and that she has done and will do much more to educate voters on this new law if Judge Harold Murphy finds is legal. He's expected to rule within the next 2 weeks.

State elections officials: no complaints last week

Only eight voters in Georgia’s special elections last week needed to cast provisional ballots because they lacked the required photo identification—that’s the word from Georgia elections officials. State law allows those who cast provisional ballots to return within 48 hours and show a form of photo ID, so their vote can count. It was unclear whether the eight voters returned.
In the biggest test yet of the state’s photo ID law, officials say they received no complaints either by phone or email. Local elections were held in 22 counties with low turnout.

Judge rules Voter ID law is legal

A federal judge ruled today that the state's strict photo voter ID requirement is legal. Judge Harold Murphy said in his ruling that requiring a photo ID at the polls is not a burden to the right to vote. He dismissed a lawsuit brought by several advocacy groups including Common Cause, The League of Women Voters and the NAACP. They had argued that requiring a photo ID would keep the elderly and minorities from the polls.

Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State Karen Handel said she was "very pleased" with the decision. She said, "It is a tremendous victory for Georgia, for our citizens and for the integrity of elections in our state." Georgia Democrats said they disagree with the judge’s ruling, but will now work to make sure everyone has the proper ID for voting in person.

Photo voter ID put to the test

State officials say all appears to have gone well with a first test of Georgia's photo voter ID law. Special elections were held yesterday in 23 counties with low turnout reported. The Secretary of State's office says over 35-hundred photo ID cards were issued to Georgians. A little over 500 cards were given out since a widespread effort began August 1st to let voters know of the new provision. A better test of the photo ID law should come in the February 5th presidential primary, when turnout is expected to be much higher.

Photo voter ID legal says judge

Federal Judge Harold Murphy ruled today that Georgia's Photo ID requirement for voting is legal. He dismissed a lawsuit saying the plaintiff's did not prove that the law is a burden to the public. He said in his 100 page ruling that the public's interest would be served if voter fraud can be prevented.

The lawsuit was brought by various groups including the NAACP, the League of Women voters and Common Cause. They had argued that the law requiring one of 5 government issued photo ID's at the polls would keep minorities and the elderly from voting.

Secretary of state Karen Handel is expected to make a statement, soon.

Early voting begins tomorrow in 22 counties that will hold elections September 18th.

State Election Board: Yes for voter I-D

Georgia should move ahead with the effort to require voters to show photo I-D's at the polls--that's the word from the state's election board. A vote of 3-to-1 Wednesday by the State Election Board said Georgia should put the requirement into effect "as soon as the law allows".

This vote comes only days after the Georgia Supreme Court threw out a challenge to the voter I-D law. The Secretary of State's office says the law would not be in effect for next Tuesday's special election in the 10th Congressional District. However, it could be used in the September local elections, unless another legal challenge is issued.

The battle over Georgia's voter I-D law has been ongoing for over a year in state and federal court. Opponents claim the law would disenfranchise minorities, the poor, and the elderly who don't have a driver's license or other government-issued I-D. The law's supporters, including Governor Sonny Perdue, say it's needed to prevent voter fraud.

Voter ID gets test in Georgia today

The voter ID law is being put to the test today in special elections across 22 Georgia counties. State officials have covered the gamut in getting the word out to Georgians. A quarter million letters were sent out, radio commercials were run, a special hotline and Web site were established, and special training was held for poll workers. The Secretary of State’s office reported that about 300 free photo ID’s had been given out as of the weekend. Voter turnout for elections today is expected to be very low. Issues on the ballots include special-option sales taxes, as well as various local races.

Court ruling: Voter photo ID required at polls

Georgia voters will have to present a valid government-issued photo ID when casting a ballot in November’s general elections. That’s the ruling from a Superior court yesterday rejecting an effort by the Democratic party of Georgia to toss out the law. Secretary of State Karen Handel applauds the ruling. The Democratic party has vowed to appeal.

Critics: Nov. elections prove photo ID law problematic

Georgia election officials announced nearly 60 people were forced to cast provisional ballots during November's local elections. That's because they lacked the required state issued photo identification. So far, less than 40 of the state's 159 counties have reported their November elections findings to state officials. Still, critics say they're wary of the law. Charlie Lester is spokesperson for Georgia Election Protection. "We're worried that people won't know the requirements, won't have gotten picture IDs. We're concerned about potentials for misinformation, actual voter fraud, telling people that democrats vote on Wednesday instead of on Tuesday." Georgia voters have until January 7th, 2008 to register for the February 5th Presidential primary.

ID please

Georgia voters will have to present a photo ID when casting a ballot in Tuesday's primary.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Tom Campbell ruled Friday that Georgia law requires voters to present the photo IDs at polling precincts before voting in state elections.

Georgia's Democrats sought to block the state from requiring photo IDs from voters in the primary, saying it places an undue burden on the poor, the disabled and minorities.

But Secretary of State Karen Handel predicted that changing the requirements days before the election would create "mass chaos" in Georgia's precincts.

Photo voter I-D has smooth election run

State elections officials by late Tuesday had reported no problems with the use of photo voter identification in local elections across 100 Georgia counties. It was another test run for the law, which was in effect for local elections in 22 counties on September 18th. The biggest workout yet for voter ID is expected on February 5th for the state's presidential primary. Turnout for that date could be higher than that of the local race voting.

Photo voter ID suit testimony could wrap today

Testimony is expected to wrap today in Rome in a lawsuit over Georgia's photo ID requirement for voters. The suit is the final hurdle before the law is put into action during special elections ahead on September 18th. Several opponents want to block enforcement of the requirements. Groups such as the NAACP say the law violates constitutional rights of minorities, making it harder to vote. No date has yet been set on a ruling from the federal judge.