Secretary of State Kemp Announces Victory in Long Fight to Secure Georgia’s Voter Rolls

Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp today announced that following the State’s June 22, 2010 lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the DOJ consented to preclearance of the State’s voter verification process, including verification of U.S. citizenship. After the DOJ consented to the process, the State filed for and received administrative preclearance from the DOJ. The State and the DOJ therefore have now filed a joint request to have the lawsuit dismissed.

“After nearly two years, we can now verify that voter registration applicants are who they say they are and that they are U.S. citizens,” said Secretary Kemp. “When we filed the lawsuit, I was criticized by some because they believed it would be too time-consuming and expensive. However, after waiting for nearly a year and a half for a final administrative decision from the DOJ, I was certain that litigation was the only way to put Georgia in a position to obtain final approval from the federal government of our voter verification procedures. After the litigation was filed, it took less than two months for the DOJ to consent to preclearance of the verification process.”

Under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, Georgia must obtain federal preclearance of any change affecting voting by bringing a declaratory judgment action in federal court or, in the alternative, by submitting the change to the DOJ for administrative preclearance. In October 2008, the Secretary of State’s Office first submitted the verification process to the DOJ for administrative preclearance. After extended administrative review and numerous discussions with representatives of the State, the DOJ denied administrative preclearance of the State’s voter verification process and later refused to withdraw that denial. During the administrative process, the State provided substantial amounts of information about its verification process, sometimes providing the same information several times.

In June of this year, Secretary Kemp announced that the State of Georgia filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the DOJ to obtain preclearance of the voter verification process. After the lawsuit was filed, the DOJ determined that the verification process did not have a discriminatory effect or purpose and expeditiously consented to the federal approval of the verification procedure. Georgia was previously the only state in the country barred from complying with the federal Help America Vote Act’s voter verification requirement.

Secretary Kemp added, “I am glad the DOJ ultimately recognized the importance of ensuring a secure elections process in Georgia and consented to the Section 5 approval of Georgia’s voter verification process. As Georgia’s Chief Elections Officer, my job is to ensure secure, fair, and accessible elections for every Georgia citizen who is eligible to vote. Every ballot cast by a non-citizen erases a ballot cast by an eligible Georgia voter.”

Under the Help America Vote Act, states are required to verify the information provided by first time voter registration applicants with information currently on file in state or federal databases. In Georgia, the applicant’s first name, last name, date of birth, driver’s license or identification number, last four digits of his or her Social Security number, and United States citizenship status are verified with the Department of Driver Services or Social Security Administration databases to ensure that the information matches.
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Georgia Governor Signs Important Lawsuit Transparency Legislation: Georgia First in Nation to Tackle Implied Rights to Sue

/PRNewswire/ -- The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) today lauded the Georgia legislature and Gov. Sonny Perdue as he signed S.B. 138 into law, requiring transparency in the legislative creation of new rights for private individuals to sue. ALEC is the nation's largest nonpartisan individual membership association of state legislators, and its model legislation, the Transparency in Lawsuits Protection Act, was the basis for the new Peach State law.

"Often goaded by plaintiffs' lawyers," explained ALEC Civil Justice Task Force Director Amy Kjose, "courts sometimes infer from vague legislative or regulatory language new rights to bring private lawsuits. These so-called 'implied causes of action' can bog down court dockets with frivolous litigation and otherwise work to undermine economic growth and job creation."

The Transparency in Lawsuits Protection Act asks legislators to answer directly the primary question judiciaries consider in the creation of an implied cause of action: Did the legislators intend to create a new right to sue?

"In order to avoid confusion and uncertainty," Kjose continued, "S.B. 138 requires the legislature to qualify legislative intent from the get-go. Consumers, businesses, and their lawyers deserve to know when and where they can statutorily sue or be sued. The enactment of S.B. 138 ends the costly game of trial and error within Georgia's legal system."

S.B. 138 passed with very strong majorities in both the Georgia Senate and the House of Representatives.

Victor Schwartz, a renowned tort law scholar and Private Sector Co-Chair of ALEC's Civil Justice Task Force, offered praise for all involved, saying that, "Bill sponsor Sen. Wiles, House advocate Rep. Ehrhart and Gov. Perdue are to be congratulated for making Georgia the first state to require its legislators, if they intend to create a new way to sue, to say so plainly and directly. Other states should follow suit in ending implied causes of action, or as I like to call them, hidden trial lawyer earmarks."

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is the nation's largest nonpartisan, individual membership organization of state legislators.

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Governor Requests Attorney General Join Colleagues in Reviewing Constitutionality of Federal Health Care Bill

Governor Sonny Perdue on December 23 requested Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker join colleagues from around the nation in reviewing the Constitutionality of the health care bill under consideration in Congress. At least seven Attorneys General have confirmed that they are looking at several special deals made by Senate leadership to buy the votes of wavering Senators.

“The leadership of Congress, particularly Senate leadership, understands the financial devastation that is looming for states, which is clearly evidenced by the special deals that have been cut for states that have Democratic Senators with wavering support of the reform,” Governor Perdue wrote to Attorney General Baker. “In order to calm the concerns, Senate leadership has granted special exemptions with additional federal dollars to cover the substantial increases in Medicaid costs for a few states while leaving the rest of us to foot the entire bill.”

The special treatment that Senators have won for their states will cost the country’s taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, in addition to the billions in state costs that will skyrocket under this bill.

The full text of Governor Perdue’s letter to Attorney General Baker is below:


The Honorable Thurbert Baker
Attorney General of Georgia

Dear Attorney General Baker:

RE: H.R. 3590 - “Health Care Reform”

The debate over healthcare policy in Washington, DC has reached a critical juncture now that 60 Senators have agreed to support the latest bill unveiled by Sen. Harry Reid over this past weekend. Under the House and Senate proposals, state spending on Medicaid will increase dramatically and Governors of both parties have repeatedly objected to the path we appear to be rushing toward. One of my Democratic Governor colleagues even called this bill “the mother of all unfunded mandates.”

The leadership of Congress, particularly Senate leadership, understands the financial devastation that is looming for states, which is clearly evidenced by the special deals that have been cut for states that have Democratic Senators with wavering support of the reform. In order to calm the concerns, Senate leadership has granted special exemptions with additional federal dollars to cover the substantial increases in Medicaid costs for a few states while leaving the rest of us to foot the entire bill. Senator Reid’s recent compromise to obtain the support of Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska is the most striking example where the federal government would cover one hundred percent of the cost of all newly eligible Medicaid enrollees in just the State of Nebraska. In addition, the health care legislation grants an additional $300 million in Medicaid aid to the State of Louisiana which secured Senator Mary Landrieu’s support – a deal many are calling the new “Louisiana Purchase.”

Yesterday, seven Attorneys General from across the country confirmed that they are looking at the constitutionality of these special deals. As I have considerable concerns over the constitutionality of these recent actions, I respectfully request that you join your colleagues from Alabama, Colorado, Michigan, North Dakota, South Carolina, Texas and Washington state in investigating the constitutionality of these special exemptions in the health care legislation and explore the availability of any legal challenges that Georgia could pursue to oppose this unconscionable scenario.

Congress appears to be on the cusp of making a decision that will have ripple effects for decades to come. Now is the time to ensure that any decision that is made has been thoroughly vetted and deemed to meet the intent and spirit of our country’s Constitution.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely
Governor Sonny Perdue

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Secretary of State Handel Commends the Georgia Supreme Court’s Unanimous Decision Affirming Use of Touch-Screen Voting Machines

Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel today commended the unanimous decision by the Georgia Supreme Court (Favorito et al. v. Handel et al.) affirming the constitutionality of touch-screen voting machines, and denying a claim that touch-screen voting violates voters’ equal protection rights. The Supreme Court’s decision upholds a 2008 Fulton County Superior Court ruling.

“Georgia has the most secure elections in the nation due to our four levels of security testing on touch-screen voting machines, our partnership with nationally renowned elections experts at the Kennesaw State University Center for Elections Systems, the dedication by county election officials to provide secure and fair elections at the local level and our photo ID requirement,” said Secretary Handel.

Georgia implemented electronic voting machines statewide in 2002.

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Symposium to Examine Human Rights in Times of Threat March 27

“Human Rights in an Age of Insecurity” symposium
9 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 27
Speakers Auditorium, Georgia State Student Center, 44 Courtland St., Atlanta

In times of military or economic threat, public fear can breed indifference when it comes to human rights issues, says Michael Galchinsky, professor of English at Georgia State University, who is coordinating a symposium to address what happens to human rights in democracies that are under threat.

In times of national security threats, democracies have typically blocked the public’s right to information, expanded government surveillance and launched attacks on freedom of speech and the rights of due process and habeas corpus. International human rights issues are often ignored as well, Galchinsky said.

“People’s fear sometimes makes them consider human rights to be luxuries rather than entitlements,” he said. “We can see this in real concrete ways: Human rights watchdog groups get less money from the public at this time, they are able to place their information in fewer newspapers, and they have the ear of fewer government officials.”

What makes this especially difficult, Galchinsky said, is that at times of increased insecurity, human rights groups are most needed. With recent economic woes taking center stage, advocacy groups are now also needed to keep an eye on the financial welfare of those in the United States and abroad.

“In our country, we’ve often talked about civil and political rights, but not so much economic, social and cultural rights, which are a big deal in other parts of the world, especially the underdeveloped countries,” he said. “With the global economy tanking, it’s a good time to begin thinking about economic rights and social welfare.”

The symposium aims to address economic and other human rights issues from both a theoretical and a practical standpoint, inviting speakers who have extensive legal knowledge as well as those who have been involved as activists. Keynote speaker Elisa Massimino is CEO and executive director of Human Rights First and has been an advocate for international human rights for nearly 20 years.

In conjunction with the daylong symposium, a photographic exhibit titled “In Black and White: Political Violence in Argentina (1969-1985)” will be on display in the Gallery Lounge, Room 346 of the Student Center, March 22 through 27.

The time is ripe for examining human rights issues in Atlanta. The city is in the midst of finalizing plans to build the Center for Civil and Human Rights, and Georgia State is creating its own Center for Human Rights and Democracy.

“It makes a lot of sense that this conversation is happening here in Atlanta with its strong history of civil rights, and it was Dr. King who sought very much to link civil rights at home to human rights everywhere,” Galchinsky said. “We feel like this is the time to be having this conversation, and it needs to be in Atlanta.”

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Governor Perdue Announces Filing of the Landowners Protection Act

Governor Sonny Perdue announced today that legislation has been filed that will limit liability for landowners who open their property to hunters and agri-tourists. Senate Bill 449, known as the Landowners Protection Act of 2008, is being carried by Senator Bill Heath, one of the Governor’s Floor Leaders in the Senate.

“Georgia is a prime destination for hunters and tourists who want to enjoy our land and farms,” said Governor Sonny Perdue. “This legislation will prevent liability concerns from discouraging landowners welcoming guests onto their property.”

The proposal will protect landowners who allow individuals to hunt on their property from being sued for accidents arising during a hunt. Likewise, landowners operating an agri-tourism attraction would not be held liable for accidents or injuries that may occur on the visit. Property owners will continue to be held responsible for gross negligence, and they will be liable if they deliberately put people in danger. Governor Perdue announced the legislation during the Georgia Farm Bureau’s annual legislative luncheon.

“We want to encourage landowners to open their hunting property and farms to visitors to enjoy Georgia’s natural beauty as an agricultural and sportsman’s paradise,” said Senator Bill Heath. “The Georgia General Assembly is working to protect landowners and, again, stand up for the rights of private property owners.”