Fresh Loaf

You may recall that Secretary of State Karen Handel tried to implement a last-minute citizenship verification hurdle before last fall’s election that might have resulted in thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of newly registered, likely Democratic voters being turned away from the polls.

She had her hands slapped by a federal three-judge panel, who said she needed Justice Department approval to carry out her scheme, and then by the Justice Department itself, which said her plan would be a violation of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Here’s the department’s conclusions, from a letter sent to AG Thurbert Baker:

The state’s proposed procedures for verifying voter registration information are seriously flawed. This flawed system frequently subjects a disproportionate number of African-American, Asian, and/or Hispanic voters to additional and, more importantly, erroneous burdens on the right to register to vote. These burdens are real, are substantial, and are retrogressive for minority voters. As such, an objection based upon the state’s failure to establish the absence of a discriminatory effect is warranted.

That seems pretty cut and dried. And remember, that was before Bush left office.

But Handel is one partisan gal who doesn’t give up easily! On Wednesday, she asked the DOJ to reconsider its decision. Does that mean she made an attempt to rectify “the state’s failure to establish the absence of a discriminatory effect?” Pshaw!

From her press release:

“I do not believe there is anything discriminatory in verifying voter information and citizenship,” Secretary Handel said. “I strongly disagreed with the Department of Justice’s decision to deny preclearance. It is my hope that the Department of Justice will review this request, with the information and data provided, and grant preclearance to the State of Georgia for these verification processes.”

“It is absolutely critical that Georgia protects the integrity of its voter registration rolls by having a mechanism to verify the identification and eligibility of applicants to participate in our elections,” Secretary Handel said. “We also look forward to utilizing these common sense processes that give the State the ability to verify the identity and citizenship status of applicants who previously indicated to (Department of Driver Services) that they were not U.S. citizens.”

Maybe it’s just me, but any time I hear a politician use the phrase “common sense” anymore, I instantly suspect he’s trying to sneak something past me.

Just to clear up any confusion, Handel’s plan involves using the state’s driver’s license database to flag non-citizens who might have illegally registered to vote. But, say critics (and the DOJ), the DDS records are riddled with data-entry errors and were never intended to reflect citizenship. As a result, Handel’s process — before it was blocked by the courts — improperly caused thousands of legitimate voters to be “flagged.” Under her plan, these folks would not be allowed to vote until they had proven their citizenship to local county officials.

If Handel has changed this process to make it more accurate or less burdensome to voters, she doesn’t indicate such in her press release. A cynic might assume that Handel’s motivation here is to provoke another letter of rejection from the DOJ so she, as candidate for governor, can claim to the GOP base that the mean old federal government won’t let her do her job and that those liberals in Washington want to allow possums and polecats to vote in Georgia.

Frankly, I can’t see how letting possums vote could produce any worse results.

(Photo courtesy Karen Handel for Governor)

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Tags: 1965 Voting Rights Act, Attorney General Thurbert Baker, disenfranchise, Justice Department, Secretary of State Karen Handel.