Even though macho Republicans remain goose-stepping around the rotunda & messing things up, Cathy Cox breaks silence & lashes out at photo ID plans.
Two weeks ago the Dean predicted that gubernatorial candidate Cathy Cox -- described by Bill Shipp as "the Democrats' great female hope" -- would continue to lay low and stay out of sight, "even if the state's legislative leaders showed up for work wearing brown shirts and jackboots." (3-9-05 post.)
Cox would reappear, Shipp wrote, "as soon as this caveman-dominated legislature picks up its clubs and creeps back into the bush."
Shipp was wrong. As of yesterday, Secretary of State Cox didn't continue laying law and out of sight, as discussed below.
So how could the never-wrong Dean miss a call on something involving Georgia politics, where he is the best of the best.
The answer is that the playing field changed.
The Philistines -- dubbed the cavemen and Neanderthals by the Dean -- went from just (and the following quotes are from the Dean's above-linked column) (i) "giving big business the kind of blank checks and tax breaks the tycoons never envisioned" and "when [c]orporate lobbyists never looked happier," (ii) "dabbling" and messing in "[p]rivate bedrooms and personal relationships;" (iii) "limit[ing] abortions;" (iv) complicating and "prolong[ing] painful divorce proceedings;" and (v) "eas[ing] the child-support burden on absentee fathers," to something that is apparently near and dear to the Secretary of State's heart -- the unfettered right and franchise to vote.
What follows is a 3-19-05 AJC article by Sonji Jacobs:
Cox lashes out at photo ID plans
Secretary of State Cathy Cox on Friday denounced a legislative proposal that would require Georgia voters to show a photo ID at the polls and change other voting rules.
"If this bill passed, we would have the most restrictive identification requirements for voting over any other state in the union," Cox said.
Last week, the state House approved HB 244, which would require voters to present one of five forms of photo ID: a government-issued driver's license or ID card, a military ID, a government employee ID or a U.S. passport. The bill would allow a student ID from any public or private university or technical school. It also would ban absentee voting on the Monday prior to an election.
Current law allows voters to show one of 17 kinds of documentation, including utility bills or bank statements.
The bill also would loosen restrictions on absentee voting, allowing any Georgian to cast an absentee ballot by mail during a 45-day period. No identification would be needed to vote absentee.
Supporters of the bill said it would help prevent voter fraud, a claim Cox disputed. She said she cannot recall a single incident in the past few years where a voter has arrived at a polling station pretending to be another voter.
"This bill would actually open the door wide to opportunities for voter fraud because it allows voting by mail where you present no identification whatsoever," Cox said. " So those parts of the bill really don't jive in my mind in terms of any real effort to crack down on what someone perceives to be voting fraud."
Rep. Sue Burmeister (R-Augusta), the bill's sponsor, said later in the day that she disagreed with Cox's reading of the proposal.
"The bill does get at the heart of voter fraud," Burmeister said. "The reason voter fraud isn't caught at the polls is because there is no picture ID requirement." Burmeister also took exception to the argument that allowing more absentee voting would lead to more fraud. "With absentee voting, you have a paper ballot," she said. "You can go back and verify that."
The Senate state and local government committee was slated to consider the bill Friday morning, but the hearing was scuttled at the last minute. The meeting has been rescheduled for 5 p.m. Monday.
Burmeister said she and other legislators reviewed the bill Thursday and Friday morning and are considering some changes. They're also looking at a similar proposal, Senate Bill 84, which also would require voters to photo ID at the polls and do away with provisional balloting, a fallback procedure that allows voters who have no identification to receive a ballot after they sign a sworn statement on their identity. A House governmental affairs subcommittee meets at 9 a.m. Monday to take up SB 84.
Burmeister said she supports provisional balloting.
Only seven states — Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, South Carolina and South Dakota - require voters to show some form of photo identification at the polls. But all seven spell out additional ways for voters to prove their identity. In Arizona, for example, voters may present one form of voter ID or two forms of ID with a name and address. In Louisiana, if a voter does not have a photo ID, he or she may sign an affidavit from the Elections Division.
HB 244 and SB 84 have sparked criticism from Democrats - especially African-American legislators - and others who say it will make it harder for the poor and the elderly to vote. A coalition of civil rights groups plans to rally Thursday at the Capitol to protest the bills. The League of Women Voters and the American Association of Retired Persons of Georgia oppose the legislation. The Georgia AARP estimates that 36 percent of their members older than 75 do not have voter identification.
"Why are we making this an additional obstacle to their ability to exercise their right to vote?" said Bill Brown, communications director for the Georgia AARP. "It seems this is not the way we need to go."
_______________
The 3-19-05 Macon Telegraph reviews the status of legislation in other states.
Cox would reappear, Shipp wrote, "as soon as this caveman-dominated legislature picks up its clubs and creeps back into the bush."
Shipp was wrong. As of yesterday, Secretary of State Cox didn't continue laying law and out of sight, as discussed below.
So how could the never-wrong Dean miss a call on something involving Georgia politics, where he is the best of the best.
The answer is that the playing field changed.
The Philistines -- dubbed the cavemen and Neanderthals by the Dean -- went from just (and the following quotes are from the Dean's above-linked column) (i) "giving big business the kind of blank checks and tax breaks the tycoons never envisioned" and "when [c]orporate lobbyists never looked happier," (ii) "dabbling" and messing in "[p]rivate bedrooms and personal relationships;" (iii) "limit[ing] abortions;" (iv) complicating and "prolong[ing] painful divorce proceedings;" and (v) "eas[ing] the child-support burden on absentee fathers," to something that is apparently near and dear to the Secretary of State's heart -- the unfettered right and franchise to vote.
What follows is a 3-19-05 AJC article by Sonji Jacobs:
Cox lashes out at photo ID plans
Secretary of State Cathy Cox on Friday denounced a legislative proposal that would require Georgia voters to show a photo ID at the polls and change other voting rules.
"If this bill passed, we would have the most restrictive identification requirements for voting over any other state in the union," Cox said.
Last week, the state House approved HB 244, which would require voters to present one of five forms of photo ID: a government-issued driver's license or ID card, a military ID, a government employee ID or a U.S. passport. The bill would allow a student ID from any public or private university or technical school. It also would ban absentee voting on the Monday prior to an election.
Current law allows voters to show one of 17 kinds of documentation, including utility bills or bank statements.
The bill also would loosen restrictions on absentee voting, allowing any Georgian to cast an absentee ballot by mail during a 45-day period. No identification would be needed to vote absentee.
Supporters of the bill said it would help prevent voter fraud, a claim Cox disputed. She said she cannot recall a single incident in the past few years where a voter has arrived at a polling station pretending to be another voter.
"This bill would actually open the door wide to opportunities for voter fraud because it allows voting by mail where you present no identification whatsoever," Cox said. " So those parts of the bill really don't jive in my mind in terms of any real effort to crack down on what someone perceives to be voting fraud."
Rep. Sue Burmeister (R-Augusta), the bill's sponsor, said later in the day that she disagreed with Cox's reading of the proposal.
"The bill does get at the heart of voter fraud," Burmeister said. "The reason voter fraud isn't caught at the polls is because there is no picture ID requirement." Burmeister also took exception to the argument that allowing more absentee voting would lead to more fraud. "With absentee voting, you have a paper ballot," she said. "You can go back and verify that."
The Senate state and local government committee was slated to consider the bill Friday morning, but the hearing was scuttled at the last minute. The meeting has been rescheduled for 5 p.m. Monday.
Burmeister said she and other legislators reviewed the bill Thursday and Friday morning and are considering some changes. They're also looking at a similar proposal, Senate Bill 84, which also would require voters to photo ID at the polls and do away with provisional balloting, a fallback procedure that allows voters who have no identification to receive a ballot after they sign a sworn statement on their identity. A House governmental affairs subcommittee meets at 9 a.m. Monday to take up SB 84.
Burmeister said she supports provisional balloting.
Only seven states — Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, South Carolina and South Dakota - require voters to show some form of photo identification at the polls. But all seven spell out additional ways for voters to prove their identity. In Arizona, for example, voters may present one form of voter ID or two forms of ID with a name and address. In Louisiana, if a voter does not have a photo ID, he or she may sign an affidavit from the Elections Division.
HB 244 and SB 84 have sparked criticism from Democrats - especially African-American legislators - and others who say it will make it harder for the poor and the elderly to vote. A coalition of civil rights groups plans to rally Thursday at the Capitol to protest the bills. The League of Women Voters and the American Association of Retired Persons of Georgia oppose the legislation. The Georgia AARP estimates that 36 percent of their members older than 75 do not have voter identification.
"Why are we making this an additional obstacle to their ability to exercise their right to vote?" said Bill Brown, communications director for the Georgia AARP. "It seems this is not the way we need to go."
_______________
The 3-19-05 Macon Telegraph reviews the status of legislation in other states.
posted by Sid Cottingham | 10:08 AM
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