Republicans know that they can’t win in an actual democracy. That’s why they often cry fraud in an attempt to disenfranchise black voters.
Georgia’s crackdown on voter fraud would be more credible if it actually pursued fraud. But the new requirement for photo IDs at the polls does nothing to address absentee ballots, where there is considerable evidence of abuse. Instead it burdens the poor and elderly and mostly black voters who have no drivers’ licenses, which is why it is impossible to ignore the poisonous politics at play.
The bill was rushed through the Republican-controlled General Assembly this spring over the strenuous objections of African-American lawmakers, some of whom walked out in protest. It was signed into law by a Republican governor, Sonny Perdue, who called it merely a “common sense step to ensure voter integrity and sound elections.”
The funny thing is, Georgia Secretary of State Cathy Cox, a Democrat, reports no cases of documented identity fraud at the polls.
The law will have an undeniably disparate impact on voters. Among Georgians, blacks are nearly five times less likely than whites to have a driver’s license. The only photo ID card deemed acceptable would be issued by the state, at a cost of $20, at only 58 different locations across a state with 159 counties (Perdue says the fee will be waived for those who sign an affidavit claiming poverty). If the state’s intentions were pure, there would be many more sites to obtain a photo ID card – and the card would be free.