Georgia Secretary of State Applauds Decision Denying Photo ID Injunction

Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel today applauded the decision by Fulton Superior Court Judge Tom Campbell to deny an attempt to block the implementation of the photo ID requirement in the November 4 General Election.

“I applaud Judge Campbell’s decision to uphold Georgia’s commonsense photo ID requirement which safeguards our elections against voter fraud,” said Secretary Handel.

Georgia’s photo ID law has been in place for 14 elections without incident. The Democratic Party of Georgia filed the lawsuit, the organization’s second attempt to block the use photo ID. To date, opponents of Georgia’s photo ID law have failed to produce one voter who has been unable to cast a ballot due to the requirement.

Judge Campbell’s decision comes a day after the Secretary of State’s Office was sued by MALDEF, ACLU and other organizations for conducting a legally mandated verification check on new voter registration applicants. Judge Camp declined to immediately grant injunctive relief and is expected to rule next week.

Voters will be required to show one of the following six forms of photo ID when voting in-person in the General Election:

· A Georgia driver’s license, even if expired;
· Any valid state or federal government issued photo ID, including a free Voter ID Card issued by your county registrar or Georgia Department of Driver Services (DDS);
· Valid U.S. passport;
· Valid employee photo ID from any branch, department, agency, or entity of the U.S. Government, Georgia, or any county, municipality, board, authority, or other entity of this state;
· Valid U.S. military photo ID; or
· Valid tribal photo ID.

Karen Handel was sworn in as Secretary of State in January 2007. The Secretary of State's office offers important services to our citizens and our business community. Among the office’s wide-ranging responsibilities, the Secretary of State is charged with conducting efficient and secure elections, the registration of corporations, and the regulation of securities and professional license holders. The office also oversees the Georgia Archives and the Capitol Museum.
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Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel Responds to Activist Lawsuit (to prevent verification of voter eligibility)

Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel issued the following statement regarding the lawsuit filed in the United States District Court to prevent the Secretary of State from verifying the eligibility of voter registration applicants:

“On the same day that activist organizations filed a lawsuit in Georgia to prevent our state from verifying the eligibility of applicants to register and vote in our November 4 General Election, a federal judge has ruled that the Ohio Secretary of State must follow federal law and implement the exact same verification procedures.

“In fact, U.S. District Judge George C. Smith of Ohio stated, “It is hard to imagine a public interest more compelling than safeguarding the legitimacy of the election of the president of the United States.”

“The lawsuit filed in Georgia appears to be an orchestrated and well organized effort to dismantle our state’s identification laws and verification process. The safeguards we have in place help to ensure that only those applicants and voters who meet all eligibility factors are permitted to cast a ballot in our elections. Unfortunately, the organizations appear to want to open the door to allow non-citizens to register and vote in the General Election. If the plaintiff prevails, thousands of non-citizens in Georgia could be allowed to vote.

“The Georgia Secretary of State’s office and Georgia’s county registrars and election officials have an obligation to ensure that only U.S. citizens and Georgians who meet all the eligibility factors are allowed to register and vote. The process to verify an applicants’ eligibility to register and vote is required by federal law, and we have followed the law.

“Georgia’s county election officials still have over 100,000 voter registration applications to process. My office will continue its close work with our state’s county election officials to ensure that all applications are processed and verified, and that all preparations are in place for Election Day.

“I have a sworn duty to protect the integrity and security of our state’s elections, and will fight any attempt to breach Georgians’ trust in our electoral process.”


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