Fresh Loaf

In response to a lawsuit filed today against Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel alleging that the voting rights of a Cherokee County man have been violated, Congressman John Lewis — a leader of the voting-rights battle of the 1960s — released the following statement:

“Georgia is not the only state where questions are mounting.  In Ohio and in Florida and other states around the country it seems that obstacles are being created to keep citizens from participating in this election.

“I think there is a deliberate, systematic effort to depress the turn out of African American, Latino and other minority voters on November 4th. This is harassment.  It is intimidation, and it places an undue burden on some citizens.  Who decides, based on what standards, which 2 million voters deserve greater scrutiny than any others?  I think these actions violate both the letter and the spirit of the Voting Rights Act.  They should be pursued by voting rights groups and the Department of Justice with all deliberate speed so we can make the way clear for registered voters to freely exercise their constitutional rights.”

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On May 28, the Democratic Party of Georgia challenged Georgia’s voter ID in Fulton County Superior Court. State Republicans say a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling settled the voter ID issue in their favor. State Democrats say the opposite is true.

“We think there are close to half a million people who are registered voters but won’t be able to vote.”

-Emmet Bondurant, lawyer for the Democratic Party of Georgia, as quoted in the Fulton County Daily Report on May 28.

On Friday, May 23, millions of Georgians were busy planning their Memorial Day weekends, writing letters and making phone calls to loved ones serving in the U.S. Armed Forces, and remembering family members and friends who paid the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country. That same day, the Democratic Party of Georgia (DPG) was busy on a different matter: filing a fourth lawsuit against the State attacking the voter ID law.

-Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel, responding to the suit in a letter appearing on the Peach Pundit blog May 29.

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The U.S. Supreme Court upheld Indiana’s voter-ID law today. According to the New York Times, Indiana’s voter-ID law was stricter than Georgia. Translation: If Indiana’s law can get by the Supremes, Georgia’s law can, too.

In a 6-to-3 ruling in one of the most awaited election-law cases in years, the court rejected arguments that Indiana’s law imposes unjustified burdens on people who are old, poor or members of minority groups and less likely to have driver’s licenses or other acceptable forms of identification. Because Indiana’s law is considered the strictest in the country, similar laws in the other 20 or so states that have photo-identification rules would appear to have a good chance of surviving scrutiny.

Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State of Karen Handel is quoted on AJC.com calling the ruling a “good step forward for the integrity of our elections.” Nevermind that in-person voting fraud at polling places isn’t actually a problem in Georgia, or, as far as I can tell, anywhere else in the country.

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Atlanta voters will find on tomorrow’s ballot more than simply a choice between Hillary and Obama, or McCain and Romney, etc. It hasn’t been as widely publicized as one might expect, but the municipal option sales tax (aka MOST) is up for renewal – and Shirley & Co. are banking that you vote yes.

Here’s the ballot question:

Shall a special 1 percent sales and use tax be reimposed in the City of Atlanta for a period of time not to exceed 16 calendar quarters and for the raising of not more than $750,000,000 for the purpose of funding water and sewer projects and costs?

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