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Georgia’s Top Elections Official Defends Voter ID Law

August 17th, 2013

A grassroots movement to overturn voter identification laws in several states, including Georgia, began in Atlanta this week. But, the state’s top elections official says Georgia’s law is working.

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A group called American Values First is leading the repeal effort. Georgia’s Democratic House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams is a member of the group. During the kickoff even this week, she said voter ID laws, which are usually backed by Republican lawmakers, suppress voter turnout.

“We see states [such as] Texas, Ohio, North Carolina, taking steps to further restrict the right to vote,” Abrams said. “Coincidentally, maybe, these are all communities where you have an increasing and expanding electorate that looks different than the electorate did 50 years ago.”

Democrats, like Abrams, say Republicans are restricting voting access for minorities, students, and seniors, who typically vote for Democrats. But Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State Brian Kemp says Georgia’s voter ID law hasn’t done that.

“When you compare the 2004 presidential election to 2008, one pre-photo ID law, one post, Hispanic/Latino participation was up 140%; African-American was up 42%,” Kemp says.

Kemp says there were additional, but smaller, increases in turnout during the 2012 presidential election. He says the state issues photo ID cards for free. And, he says, voters can use almost any photo ID, including an expired driver’s license.

Kemp says no one is turned away at the polls for not having an acceptable form of ID. The voter can cast a provisional ballot and has until the end of the week to return to the appropriate county elections office to have the vote counted.

To find out more about Georgia’s voter ID requirements, click here.